(A Vietnam Story) Portable Pools As Teaching Venues in Vietnam SwimSafe Vietnam WCDP Da Nang, Vietnam May 2011 Ross Cox, Amy Peden, Tarina Rubin, Mike Linnan The Alliance for Safe Children & Royal Life Saving Society-Australia Main Components Survival Swimming, i.e., NOT competition 25 meter swim Any stroke ok 30 second float Safe entry & exit Water safety knowledge Rescue skills CPR for older kids 20 lessons SwimSafe = Drowning Prevention for 5-12 yr olds 1
A Regional Partnership TASC: Operational research / scientific methods / local partners RLSSA: Technical capacity / operational / methodological experience / ILS partners National Partners Center for Injury Prevention Research Bangladesh: Bangladesh Chulalongkorn University: Thailand Hanoi School of Public Health Vietnam Australian Government ( AusAID) Da Nang : Local government Chapter 1. Drowning data for Vietnam A BIG Public Health problem. 6,153 /year= 16 day ( Mortality reports from 10,999 communes in 2008) 11,655 fatal drownings / year = 32 day (Community survey,2006 ) 11,795 non fatal drownings / year Only 6% of drowned children over 4 years of age could swim. With a practical solution. Teach kids to Swim. 2
Chapter 2. Focus on Da Nang 800,000 + population 2007 census. (Over 1,000,000 in 2011?) 80 % rural land area; 20 % urban area Eastern Sea & Bay on 2 sides; Han River; China Beach; water recreation; commercial fishing; etc. Lots of water. Lots of kids 4.4/100,000 drowning rate Safe DaNang Program Already Operational (2007) 99 primary schools 66,000 children in Primary Schools ages 6-12 Local Partners Dept. Health; Dept. Education/Training Son Tra Life Guard Service VN Red Cross People s Committee Chapter 3. What you really need to start a program : Local Support Kids (students) Teachers Good Curriculum Good Monitoring Venues for Teaching, The Da Nang People s Committee & local institutions (ok) Students- Primary School System (ok) Teachers School teachers & lifeguards from the community; (ok) Curriculum- From Bangladesh, Thailand & Australia (ok) Monitoring (ok) Multiple Venues needed for teaching thousands of children in a short time ( NOT ok) 3
Chapter 4. Creating Multiple Venues Quickly From this- in Bangladesh To This X 10 in DaNang??? What it s good to know about a portable pool in a box, before you open the box. The pool set up directions may not be in any language you or your colleagues can read. Chapter 5. Are Portable Pools an Answer? It will take more than 2 people to set it up, even if they are VERY strong and highly motivated. The base the pool is set on should be considered as important as the pool itself. While the pool may have been considered portable, once out of the box, that feature disappears. Water sources and water drainage are equally important. Filters that fit BIG pools are required to keep a system with 66,000 liters of water reasonably clean. Maintenance done right needs to start immediately. 4
Chapter 6.Portable Pool Sites Outside Or Inside When you get them up, they work!! 5
Chapter 7. What Does It Cost? Budget for Set Up: The pool Shipping Building a base Water supply system Electrical system Filtration system Shade (?) Security fences Misc. construction $2,660 $200 $1,100 ( $250- $1750) $165 $110 $1120 $2150 $850 ( $625- $1000) $400 $8755 Chapter 8. Cost Effective? Cost of a new hardpool: $40,000- $100,000 Cost of a portable pool: about $8700 Useful life? Indefinite? Maintenance issues: ongoing; expensive Useful life? 5yrs (est.) ( Longer with good care? Maybe...) Maintenance issues: ongoing; low 6
Chapter 9: What we have accomplished: 12 active venues ( 10 portable pools,1 hard pool, one beach venue; 100 teachers & lifeguards trained to teach SwimSafe curriculum 9 Teachers certified as Instructor Trainers by RLSSA. SwimSafe helping train instructors outside Da Nang SwimSafe curriculum further refined for Vietnam over 3 years Close to 10,000 children ages 6-12 through program!!! SwimSafe being accepted as a regular school activity Chapter 9 continued A well functioning monitoring system Good hard data from 2 years Community acceptance of the program Growing local capacity to manage the program Innovations from VN Trainers Increase demand for additional facilities Interest/ requests from outside Da Nang for technical assistance 7
Not Quite The Last Chapter Multiple venues in a short period ok Operational Issues better understood Teachers perhaps the most critical Curricula validated/ evolving Durability of portable pools ok ok ok likely The SwimSafe Vietnam Story: to be continued. SwimSafe Da Nang sends Special Thanks To: Royal Life Saving/Australia Aus AID Dept. of Education & Training / Da Nang Dept. of Health/ Da Nang Son Tra Eco Tourism Board Da Nang /VN Red Cross Local technical staff TASC Da Nang Office Staff 8