Parents need to focus on child safety during lockdown as risk increases — ER24

Children are at increased risk of harm while at home during the lockdown, says private emergency medical care provider ER24.

ER24 cautioned parents to prioritise the safety of children during lockdown, saying the number of unforeseen accidents involving minors at home increased in the last 21 days, surpassing the number of road accidents.

The accidents include drowning while swimming unsupervised.

“Accidents at home occur regularly, lockdown or no lockdown. We’ve seen some incidents where children have been involved in accidents at home, not only at the swimming pool,” said ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring.

“This could be because children are spending a lot more time at home and sometimes may not be supervised appropriately. If you do have the option of working from home, it is important to ensure that your children are supervised at all times.”

Here's a recap of safety tips for kids:

• Keep your pool covered with an approved safety/pool net when not in use. It's a good idea to put a fence around your pool if it's not fenced.
• If children are swimming, make sure there is adult supervision.
• Secure your pool area with appropriate barriers. Barriers that can’t be pushed down by little children.
• Stay within arm’s length from little children as they submerge very quickly — especially if the water is murky.
• Make sure that children don’t play rough in the pool and jump on top of one another.
• It's important that adults who supervise must be able to swim as well.