How decisions made in regard to the chosen health issue can affect the health of an individual and other people:
In aquatic safety many choices can be the difference between life and death. When you are in a pool, you ask yourself: "I wonder how deep the water is?" "Is it safe to jump of that ledge?" There are many risk factors involved in aquatic activities, but if you make sure you be safe and don't do anything stupid that could lead to getting hurt, you should be ok.
In the vast majority of cases, drownings are caused by accidents where somebody has jumped into the water, not knowing how deep it is, and with poor swimming ability, going under and not getting a chance for air. Things like pool fences and gates could easily prevent such easy accidents from occurring, and save many more lives. In Australia, it is now compulsory to have some sort of fencing around your pool so that the chance of small children drowning is minimized.
Another common way of aquatic death is when you are at the beach. You may be swimming in the ocean and there will be many large waves crashing around you. Many deaths have been caused by diving under a wave, and smashing your head on a sand bar or breaking your neck, not giving you a chance to re-surface, and drowning while you are unconscious. There is a way to minimize your risk, and that is by not doing anything like diving under a wave in shallow water or going further out to sea than you think is safe. If you follow some of these simple guidelines, you can greatly lower the risk factor when performing aquatic activities.
The possible risk factors that promoted the likelihood of injury:
Some of the risk factors that promote the likelihood of aquatic injury are:
- The depth of the water
- The tides & currents in the water (beach)
- Positioning of barriers, e.g. sandbars, steps etc.
- Swimming ability
- Decision making skills
- Physical strength
- Poor visibility
- Knowledge of surrounding area e.g. positioning of rocks
Possible strategies to use to minimize risk and harm to an individual when performing aquatic activities:
The following are a few possible strategies that could be used to ensure safety when performing aquatic activities. A simple strategy of prevention would be fencing around all pools and the use of lockable gates. Many deaths and severe injuries are caused when there is no adult supervising, and with fences and gates, you can ensure that your child is always safe because they cannot enter a pool area without your knowledge and supervision.
One important way would be teaching your kids how to swim, and how to be water safe.
Another strategy would be to educate your children about general aquatic rules, like no jumping into the water if you aren't sure of its depth or always swim between the flags, and if you can make those lessons stick, you will provide them with valuable knowledge that they can use if ever swimming on their own or with other kids and not under your supervision.
The final simple method of injury prevention is simple. Always have somebody supervising your kids whenever they are swimming. Whether it is you or a friend, always try to make sure there is somebody there that can assist them if they get into any difficulty. If you just make sure you just follow these simple strategies, you can make aquatic activities safer and more fun for the whole family.
