Why Water Safety Hawaii?

For many of us, Water Safety is something we don't really talk about. People often look at water safety and learning to swim as recreational activities instead of an essential life-saving skills. Yes learning to swim, float and survive indepently in the water is a life skill! Let's see what major recognizable government and national agencies are saying in regard to water safety and drownings. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have recognized drowning as a worldwide issue. Drowning is the leading cause of death of children ages 1-4 years old worldwide. With this statistic, my question to myself was, "Why aren't we talking about this more?" In Hawaii, the age gap for drowning related deaths widens. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children and teens ages 1-15 years old in Hawaii. Hawaii's drowning rate is the second highest in the nation behind Alaska. Also Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are at a higher drowning rate than the general public.

Most people assume Hawaii's strong local culture, surf history and strong watermen/waterwomen means everyone here is able to swim and is water safe. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Hawaii having nearly 40 deaths a year relating to drowing incidents. With these statistics, something must be done, specially here in Hawaii!

The first step is to collect data and evaluate statistics. We've already completed this with the help of Hawaii Department of Health (DOH)-MAHALO!! With this information we are able to recognize that we need a solution to reduce and eventually put an end to drownings. Next we must educate our community on Water Safety measures in order to prevent drownings from occuring. This means talking about the Water Safety Layers of Protection including: adult supervision, communication & boundaries, pool fences/alarms, survival-based swim lesson, appropriately use lifejackets and CPR. We must make survival swim programs a high priority and make them accessible to all children in Hawaii. Survival-based swim lessons are essential because when all other layers of protection fail, then your child has thier own line of defence. Making water safety education in schools mandatory and providing survival swim lessons either during or afterschool could significantly reduce our childhood drowning rates in Hawaii. Especially since, less than 2% of Hawaii's second graders have the basic skills to avoid or recover from drowning.

Just like we talk about your child wearing their seat belts, wearing their helmets when riding a bike, brusing their teeth, safe guarding your home for a toddler, it is essential we have a discussion about Water Safety with our families. We need our medical professionals, doctors and teachers asking parents, "What are you doing to keep your child safe around water?" Since this is the leading cause of death for children, it is something we need talk more about and make a priority in our comminity. Water Safety Hawaii's goal is to "Keep Hawaii Keiki Water Safe," and put an end to childhood drowings starting here in Hawaii. For more information or how to get involved as a Water Safety Adovate please consider joining our WSH Team. Together we can make a difference!

All data is from CDC, WHO and Hawaii Department of Health (DOH).