Summer is here and families are excited to spend quality time outdoors. To ensure that your summer stays full of fun times and good memories, the Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH) Trauma Centre and Urgences-santé issue this important alert.
Every summer, the MCH Emergency Department treats more than 4,000 children and teens with assorted traumatic injuries, the majority of which are preventable.
Some important tips:
- Water safety
In Quebec, one child or teen is seen in emergency rooms for drowning or near drowning each day in the summer. The MCH Trauma Centre sees at least one drowning or near drowning per week over the summer months.
According to the MCH Trauma Centre's Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) data, 73 per cent of drownings seen in the MCH Emergency Department occurred in home pools, park pools, aquatic centres or water parks. In terms of home pools, 50 per cent of drownings happened in ground pools and the other half, in above-ground pools.
Preventing drowning requires a multipronged approach:
- Vigilant adult supervision: in person, close, undistracted and attentive surveillance of children around any body of water, all eyes on the water at all times. This means no phones, screens, books, and no chatting with neighbours or drinking alcohol;
- The supervising adult should be within arm's reach of anyone with weak swimming skills. If there are numerous children in that situation, additional supervision is required;
- Swimming lessons are encouraged;
- CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training is recommended for anyone owning a pool;
- Never swim alone, regardless of age;
- Know the swimming skill level of those in your pool.
The government amended the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, requiring all owners of swimming pools in Quebec to install fencing and to ensure there is no direct access from the home to the pool. The government has given owners of older pools a grace period until September 2025 to conform to the new rules. Timely action is recommended.
Urgences-santé and the MCH Trauma Centre experts emphasize the following life-saving measures to prevent drowning:
- Install fencing compliant with Quebec regulations around the pool and ensure there is not direct access to the pool from the house or patio;
- For above-ground pools, ensure that your water filtration and heating systems are installed at least 1m from the pool to prevent agile children from climbing them.
- Close and lock the gate to the pool when not in use;
- When there is direct access to a lake, make sure doors from the house remain locked at all times to prevent a child from wandering into the water;
- Ensure that children are properly supervised and that their swim level is known when going on a field trip to a pool, lake or water park;
- Teach children to always swim with a buddy;
- Make sure to swim in an area that matches swimming ability.
"Every summer, our paramedics are called upon to intervene urgently with children who have drowned or suffered other accidents related to activities around water. These situations, often avoidable, remind us how essential prevention is. As paramedics, we know that every second counts and that every act of prevention is a worthwhile investment. That's why Urgences-santé is proud to partner with the Montreal Children's Hospital Trauma Centre to raise awareness of these serious issues," says Stéphane Smith, Director of Communications, Urgences-santé.
- Windows and balconies
At least 15 young children are seen at the MCH Trauma Centre each summer after falling from a window or balcony.
Screens are useful for keeping insects out, but are not strong enough to keep children in. They are flimsy and are weak barriers giving a false sense of security. Children can easily push through and fall out, sustaining life-threatening injuries.
