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Keep Watch
Water is a fun and enjoyable environment for children. Time spent in the water assists in a child's physical and intellectual development. The ability to safely enjoy water continues to benefit us all at all stages of our lives. Positive experiences begin from birth - bath time is the ideal introduction to the aquatic environment. Parents and carers can encourage children to feel comfortable with water by playing and making bath time and other water-based activities fun.
What is Keep Watch?
Keep Watch is a public education program of Royal Life Saving Society - Australia, aimed at preventing drowning deaths of children under 5 years of age in all aquatic locations. There are 4 main actions of the Keep Watch program that parents and carers of children are encouraged to undertake to prevent children drowning.
We are constantly reviewing and evaluating the Keep Watch program and its resources. We would love to have your feedback and have developed a short 5 minute survey. Click here to take survey
What are the Keep Watch Actions?
The Keep Watch program has 4 key actions to prevent your child from drowning. These actions are not to be used in isolation and should form part of a web of prevention measures. Therefore if one line of defence fails there are more prevention measures working together to prevent your child from drowning.
These are:
- Supervise
- Restrict Access
- Water Awareness
- Resuscitate
What are the Keep Watch Programs?
To date we have developed 3 programs targeted at locations with specific aquatic hazards. These three programs are:
- Keep Watch @ Public Pools
- Keep Watch @ The Farm
- Keep Watch @ Bath Time
What can I do to promote Keep Watch?
There are a range of resources on this website for Community Health Workers, Politicians, Swim Schools and others interested in promoting Keep Watch. Resources are available to download under the 'Resources' tab. On the Resources page you will also find an order form to order more resources to distribute.
Keep Watch Partner - PoolWerx
PoolWerx is a proud program partner in Community Water Safety with Royal Life Saving and the Keep Watch Program.
"The PoolWerx sponsorship of Keep Watch is a very important one because the 250 PoolWerx franchises will help to get the Keep Watch message and literature directly into the hands of the home pool owner while they are on-site providing their top quality pool maintenance and enhancement," said Royal Life Saving CEO Rob Bradley.
PoolWerx Corporation CEO, John O'Brien added "In targeting Australian backyard pools as safe, healthy swimming environments, it means we can contribute not only dollars, but also experience and expertise from our National network. If we can help save the life of just one little one - well, how do you put a price on that?"
History of Keep Watch
For over 15 years the Keep Watch program has been educating Australian parents and carers on how to keep their children safe when in, on, or around the water in a variety of locations. It also focuses on locations with specific hazards through the Keep Watch @ Public Pools, Keep Watch @ The Farm and Keep Watch @ Bath Time programs.
Keep Watch has widespread support among the community and industry including the Australian Water Safety Council which supports Keep Watch as a program that advocates for action in key areas such as swimming pool fencing, adult supervision, water awareness and CPR skills.
Over the past seven years the number of drowning deaths of children under 5 years has decreased only slightly. Through continued community support of Keep Watch and the delivery of the Keep Watch actions to parents and carers we can reduce the number of children who drown to zero.
Philosophy of Keep Watch
It's more than handing out brochures and putting up signs!
To prevent drowning deaths and aquatic related injuries from occurring, a range of community-based actions are required including education, behaviour change, legislation, engineering and technology solutions. These solutions form the basis of the Keep Watch program, from the removal of water bodies to the education of parents and carers about how they can keep their children safe.
For effective community action, community groups and individuals need to work together to ensure the greatest effect will occur. These strategies should not be seen as individual actions but as part of an overall strategy, which when used in combination, help to provide a safer aquatic environment for young children.
