Your safety tips from your municipality

Summer festivities are at our doorsteps, schools are officially closed, industries are to shut down soon and long trips to different holiday destinations will soon be undertaken with lots of excitement and fun. Summer holidays are a joyful period of the year, but it’s that time of the year where everyone needs to be extra cautious when out and about with children.

Between frenzied travelling to different destinations, shopping and holiday parties, it can be hard to keep track of the little ones domestically and among crowds. Always know where your child is and keep them safe.

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Safety tips for the festive season

Home is where children grow and learn, the place where they find comfort, love, care and feel safe. Swimming is part of enjoyment to keep cool in hot weather conditions.

Water safety tips to be taken into consideration:

• Never leave children alone near open water sources. An unattended child for few seconds near the water source subjects that child to drowning.

• Summer is known as rainy season and many open, unguarded water sources such as trenches, culverts and rivers are filled with water and are prone hazards of drowning.

• It is a norm for children to splash around in the water during bath time. Playing with water is great fun for children, but, unfortunately, drowning could occur because of few drops of water which might be breathed down the nose and into the lungs, preventing and blocking the air passage.

• At home, never leave buckets and baths full of water unattended because toddlers might fall in and drown.

• Wading pools or splash pools should always be emptied when playtime is over.

• Teach children how to swim. Never leave them alone in the pool. Backyard swimming pools must be fenced to keep children out and the gate kept locked. A safety net/sheet should cover the entire pool and be intact to prevent children of all ages from sneaking in without parent or adult supervision.

• Municipal pools, holiday resort pools and coastline swimming mostly have lifeguards to assist in case of drowning, but drowning doesn’t need copious amounts of water. A responsible adult with necessary skills should keep a close eye on children.

• Wear a properly fitted life jacket or inflatable swimming device while in the water.

• Never cross flooded bridges and rivers if water is above ankle level. Common practice is that many people use water pipelines across river streams as bridges or routes to destinations, which is dangerous. Use appropriate alternative routes instead.

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Be prepared for an emergency:

To prevent accidents, one of the best things to do is to prepare for an emergency because it can strike at any time. Keep your children safe and alive.

• Learn basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the Heimlich manoeuvre.

• Know your local telephone numbers for life-threatening emergencies. Ensure the numbers are readily and clearly displayed for everyone to know and use. Alternatively, know the national emergency number. Try to be calm and give the exact address and what happened to the call centre operators to save time. Keep a record of the reference number given by the call centre.

• Assemble a first-aid kit with emergency instructions.

• Teach your child how to activate emergency services as well.

DEMS are on high alert throughout the festive season to attend to any life-threatening eventualities that might occur that are in line with emergency services prerequisites.

NOTE

• In case of emergencies within the City of Ekurhuleni, call the DEMS direct line: 011 458 0911, cellphone: 112, or national emergency number: 10177.

• Numbers should be saved and easy to access on your telephone or cellphone.

• Speak clearly on the phone when reporting an emergency.

• Provide the operators with all the necessary details required.

• Do not end the conversation until all questions are answered.

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