With all the to-do about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first official visit to Canada, much has been made of the fashions that Kate has donned on the tour.

One morning last July, coroners and pathologists who meet daily at the Ontario Provincial Forensic Pathology Unit, found themselves asking yet again, “why a young child has drowned?” It was clear that something had to be done to abate the tragic loss of life due to drowning, which is completely preventable. It was at this moment that the seed was planted to review these deaths and today the Ontario Coroner released results of a review of all drowning deaths in Ontario in 2010 from May to the end of September. Most disturbingly was the realization that the 13 young children who drowned in Ontario in last summer, were all under the age of five. This was truly tragic.  At such a young age, children are completely reliant on parents as their first layer of protection against drowning. 

“I don’t want to hear any excuses!”  This is a common refrain delivered by parents to their children.  Kids seem to be able to come up with the most creative ones in an attempt to avoid everything from doing their homework, to making their beds, to eating their vegetables.  As the mother of an eight-year-old, I’m beginning to believe I’ve heard them all!

It was the concept of excuses that struck me late last summer. I was sitting on the end of a dock, enjoying the afternoon sun and I watched lazily as a motor boat sped out around the lake – mom, dad and two kids out for an enjoyable afternoon on the water.  “Good,” I thought.  “The kids are wearing their lifejackets – good decision.” 

In talking with members of the public and the media over the past few weeks, everyone seems shocked at the inordinate number of drownings we have already experienced this summer. I always feel like this shouldn’t be news to anyone. We always have more drownings in the summer than any other time of year, because more people are in, or around, the water in warmer weather.

Children drown quickly and silently - in a matter of seconds. Here are five things you can do to keep your kids safe.

On hot summer days, many of us yearn for a dip in a pool or a lake to cool off and with another hot weekend around the corner, many of us will get our chance to do just that.  We think that it could never happen to our family, but each year almost 60 children drown and another 140 kids under the age of 14 nearly drown in Canada.