Drowning happens quickly and silently and the impact on families can be devastating.

Children aged 0 to 4 years are at high risk of drowning. Young children are naturally curious and attracted to water but do not yet understand the concept of danger.

Strategies for the prevention of child drowning are well understood and include active adult supervision, restricting a child’s access to water, often using correctly installed and regularly maintained pool fencing, teaching children water awareness and learning resuscitation techniques. These are not individual strategies but should be used together for maximum safety; this means that, if one line of defence fails, there are other prevention measures actively working to prevent your child from drowning.

Keep Watch is aimed at preventing children aged 0 to 4 years from drowning by getting parents and carers to undertake these four simple actions:

• Supervise. Actively supervise children around water
• Restrict. Restrict children’s access to water
• Teach. Teach children water safety skills
• Respond. Learn how to respond in the case of an emergency