Recent research done by Poolwerx showed a spike in the number of drownings in Australia. CEO and Founder of the largest pool and spa maintenance network in the country, John O’Brien conducted a research and found that 75% of people don’t know how to do proper CPR to save a life. This prompted Mr O’Brien to launch the April Pools Day campaign.
Save A Life, Refresh Your CPR Skills
On 3 April, Poolwerx in Springfield Lakes will provide a free online CPR course. This will help refresh the community’s knowledge of CPR. The facility is located at Shop 6A, Springfield Lake Metro Shopping Centre.
One of the best ways to practice CPR is on a specially-designed dummy. To kickstart this year’s campaign, a free online course is also available here from Kids Alive. There are two videos:
How to perform CPR on an adult
How to perform CPR on babies and small children
Each video has a step-by-step guide on the proper administration of CPR.
The Australian Red Cross will also provide 2,000 free online introductory CPR courses for the month of April. All you have to do is visit a Poolwerx store from 3 April to get the special redemption card and codeword.
The campaign promotes the importance of CPR and to encourage people to learn it. Drowning is the greatest cause of accidental death in Australia in children under five years old.
This safety initiative has acquired the support of the Australian Red Cross and Laurie Lawrence of Kids Alive.
The Kids Alive Program
Kids Alive was established in 1988 by Mr Lawrence to combat drowning in the nation. As part of their support to the newly-launched safety campaign, they have teamed up with Poolwerx through the “Kids Alive – Do the Five” message to people all over Australia.
The Do The Five program covers:
Fence the pool
Shut the gate
Learn to swim
Supervise
Learn to resuscitate
They will be prioritising homes where water safety is critical.
Recent Drowning In Ipswich
Earlier this year, Aliyana Caplin died after drowning in a backyard swimming pool. The two-year-old was seen unconscious in their family pool at Raceview and was rushed to the Lady Cilento Hospital. Unfortunately, the toddler didn’t make it.
Save Our Schoolkids Campaign
Queensland is also the only state in Australia that does not have a comprehensive State Government-funded swimming program in primary schools. An S.O.S. campaign named “Save Our Schoolkids” was launched in January this year by Queensland publications with the support of the Australian Water Safety Council, Royal Life Saving Society Australia, and leading Olympians.
The campaign is to urge the government to implement compulsory swim and water safety lessons in Queensland primary schools.
You can also take CPR refresher courses here.