Free CPR course to help pool owners stay swim safe

WITH almost half of drowning deaths in children under five taking place in swimming pools, this year the April Pools Day pool safety campaign is providing a free online CPR course for pool owners

Laurie Lawrence, John O'Brien and Russell Crawford have put their weight behind the April Pools Day initiative.

WITH almost half of drowning deaths in children under five taking place in swimming pools, this year the April Pools Day pool safety campaign is providing a free online CPR course for pool owners that could help them save the life of their child.

Justin Lefebvre from Poolwerx Winnellie said its research found 75 per cent of parents admitted they were not confident they had the CPR skills to save a life.

Mr Lefebvre said with backyard pools being a mainstay of Australian life, the free course was aimed at educating pool owners on this lifesaving skill.

“Many parents said they were unaware of where to get CPR training and thought it was too expensive,” he said.

“That’s why we teamed with Australian Red Cross and Laurie Lawrence’s Kids Alive program to remove the perceived barriers for parents and make it simple, fast and free to get CPR training.”

Mr Lefebvre said pool owners who wanted to complete the free online CPR course could visit their Poolwerx store anytime from April 3 during the April Pools Day campaign.

“We will provide them with a codeword they can use to redeem a voucher for the free course,” he said.

“The online course only takes a few hours and begins the process of equipping pool owners with the right knowledge to help save a life in an emergency situation.”

Laurie Lawrence, Founder of Kids Alive and advocate of April Pools Day said anything that would help reduce drowning statistics and improve pool safety in Australia was worth getting behind.

“Last year drowning deaths in children under five increased by 32 per cent and we all have a role to play to help reduce this tragic statistic,” he said. “April Pools Day speaks to our fifth important step to reduce the risk of preschool drowning: ‘Learn how to resuscitate’. It is absolutely vital parents have this skill, as a child is four times more likely to survive if given CPR.”

Australian Red Cross First Aid Trainer Janie McCullagh said almost 30 per cent of parents surveyed by Poolwerx believed they did not need to obtain CPR training as their partner knew CPR.