“Mummy, Jason has stopped swimming and he’s asleep in the pool” said my friend's 3 year old as she returned from saying goodbye to a guest at a family BBQ, there were 5 other parents at the poolside and my friend had no reason to imagine her son was in danger of drowning. A frantic scene evolved as the ambulance took 20 minutes to arrive. Jason was blue and had stopped breathing, my friend performed mouth to mouth and tried everything she could with no first aid training. Fortunately he survived and suffered no brain injury, the doctor at the hospital said he was a miracle.
On hearing the chilling account of Jason’s near drowning I decided to produce a safety edition of our enews for you this week.
More children die of accidents and injury than of cancer, asthma and infectious diseases combined. The majority of accidents happen in and around the home and can be prevented.

Jane King
Mother of Emily 8, Cristian 14
Founder Parenting Australia

By learning first aid skills—you could save a child’s life.

St John nationally conducts comprehensive, yet simple first aid courses suitable for parents, guardians and/or carers of young children up to the age of 12. These courses show you how to manage first aid emergencies involving infants and children such as choking, resuscitation, wounds, bleeding, burns, poisons, bites and stings and acute illnesses.

St John Ambulance Australia  is a self-funding charitable organisation and is Australia's leading provider of first aid training and first aid services.

To book into a first aid course or purchase a first aid kit:
Call: 1300 360 455 or visit www.stjohn.org.au.

Most of us have experienced loosing sight of a child if only for a few seconds. I had a horrible episode at Bondi Beach when my son was 4, one moment he was with me the next he was gone!  A frenzy unfolded for what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality was 15 very long minutes, until he was found staring up at an ice cream van. I must confess to being a paranoid parent and on outings and with Emily write my mobile on the inside of her arm in biro ( classy !) . 
I have recently purchased some temporary tattoo’s featuring my mobile number and have been applying them to Emily before visits to the shopping centre, beach and sporting events. Emily loves them, ID For Me tattoo’s are fun to apply, visible, safe and comply with FDA (U.S Food and Drug Administration) laws and cannot be lost or easily removed by your child with plain water.

I have stopped branding Emily with biro’s and chemical marker pens, gave up on bits of paper with contact details, as they always get lost, and have converted to tattoos!

ID For Me is a ‘must have’ safety item for children and most of all, they are fun!

ID For Me has Fundraising Packages available. Please E-Mail Them for more information.

Stranger danger tip!
Give your kids a password, if an adult approaches them and says something like “Mummy says you have to come with me” tell your child to ask the adult for the password.

Cancer Council NSW reminds parents that children and babies are at particular risk of sunburn and skin damage because of their delicate skin during these hot, mercury busting summer months.

Exposure to the sun during the first 15 years of life greatly increases a child’s risk of developing skin cancer later in life.  This is particularly important here in Australia, where we have the highest level of skin cancer in the world.

But, the good news is most skin cancer can be prevented says Kay Coppa, Cancer Council NSW’s Skin Cancer Prevention Manager.   “Young children have extremely vulnerable skin to the sun, and as they spend lots of time playing outside, it’s vital for them to adopt sun safety measures such as wearing a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen,”That’s why Cancer Council decided to launch the SunSmart Early Childhood Program in 2006; a free program which has proved to be a big hit with parents and carers.

“The program helps childcare services to introduce a sun protection policy that looks at practical ways of reducing children’s risk of sunburn and skin cancer,” Ms Coppa said.  

It is open to family day care, long day care, occasional care, preschools, work-based services, Multipurpose Aboriginal Children's Services and mobile services.

“Becoming SunSmart is a great way for carers to show families and the community that they are committed to sun protection, it’s also reassuring for parents to know that their children are not being put at increased risk of skin cancer.

Over 1,000 centres have been recognised as SunSmart across NSW and even more have applied to join the program.   

“Parents can spot their local centre by looking for a large metal sign displaying the SunSmart logo outside their premises,” Ms Coppa said.  

For information about Cancer Council’s SunSmart programs visit www.cancercouncil.com.au/sunsmart or forward this email to your centre director.