By NICOLE VALICEK
A WILLIAMSTOWN pool franchise has teamed up with former Australian swimming coach Laurie Lawrence in a campaign to prevent drownings in the lead-up to summer.
The former Australian swimming coach has stepped up his campaign to prevent drownings, with research showing two-thirds of pool owners don’t know CPR.
National pool and spa care franchise PoolWerx, Williamstown joined the campaign in an effort to improve pool safety education and prevent preschool drownings.
Statistic released by PoolWerx last week show a further 43 per cent don’t have an up-to-date CPR chart displayed in their pool area.
The PoolWerx Pool Safety Survey lifted the lid on the significant number of Australian pool owners potentially putting lives at risk.
A further 20 per cent admitted to never inspecting the safety of their pool area.
PoolWerx Williamstown owner Dean Morris said his store was committed to promoting water safety awareness.
“Despite boasting the highest pool ownership per capita in the world, Australians still ignore basic safety measures including regular inspection for pool dangers, displaying an up-to-date CPR chart and understanding basic life saving techniques,” he said.
Mr Morris said with summer tipped to be an absolute scorcher, now is the perfect time to check the fence and gate latch are in working order, the pool water is healthy and your surrounding pool area is safe ready to take the plunge into the swimming season.
The new partnership has been created to drive home the five important water safety steps among parents and children at a grassroots level in communities across the country ahead of the swimming season.