Description:
In 1989, it was noted that lapses in parental supervision was the most frequently cited contributory factor in child drownings [1]. Whilst findings from drowning studies completed in the 1980s are now somewhat dated, more recently it has been recognised that further research investigating variations in parental supervision and differences in exposure to water and swimming pools is required [2]. Whilst supervision is ubiquitously mentioned as a contributing factor in child drowning literature, few researchers have attempted to formally define the term [3, 4]. For studies that have provided a definition, all are based on the hierarchical model of supervision that incorporates three dimensions:Attention: visual and auditoryProximity: touching, within reach, beyond reachContinuity: constant, intermittent, absent [5]Based on this model, a combination of all dimensions is required to define supervisory behaviours, with supervision increasing as one or more of the three supervision dimensions increase. Although there is no standardised operational definition of supervision in aquatic settings or other contexts, the hierarchical model appears to provide a sound framework for measuring supervision.
Description:
Water-related spinal cord injury (SCI) makes a major contribution to the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury. The most recent Australian figures show that swimming, diving, surfing or falling into water contributed 9 % of all traumatic SCI [1]. The same figures have been published in the USA [2]. Worldwide, diving is considered the contributing mechanism for SCI for between 2.3 % of SCI cases in South Africa and 21 % in Poland [3]. However, these figures underestimate the real incidence. Some deaths attributed to drowning occur as a result of an unidentified SCI. In almost all circumstances, diving SCI results in permanent tetraplegia [4]