16 children aged under five drowned in Australia in the last year — half of these incidents occurred in bathtubs and swimming pools. This is a reminder of the importance of Keeping Watch around water and for parents to learn lifesaving and CPR skills, as mother-of-three Emma Barbaro knows only too well.
In December 2012, Emma was visiting her cousin’s house with her children - Mia, who was just short of her sixth birthday, her ten-year-old son and six-day-old newborn. The kids decided to go for a swim while Emma and her cousin sat a metre away, watching them.
Emma says Mia had been walking around the safety ledge when she slipped. “I took my eyes off the pool for at the very most a minute or two to make a bottle for the little one and in those few moments Mia had slipped to the bottom. My son and his cousin dived down and pulled her out and he was yelling for me.” 
Emma says it’s a moment she will never forget. Mia was lifeless, her mouth was purple, and she was not moving at all. Thankfully Emma had completed CPR training about 15 years earlier. “I put her down on the pavement and started CPR, I could only sort of remember what to do and wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but I knew I had to give it a really good shot. The knowledge that I did have was enough to get her to eventually breathe.”
Thankfully for the Barbaro family, Mia did make a full recovery, but things could have been very different if it wasn’t for Emma’s quick actions and CPR skills.
Emma says her message for others is simple. “I think everyone should know CPR, it’s a life skill that everybody needs, but parents especially. Things happen so quickly that without that knowledge we could lose our children in the blink of an eye. We’re all very busy but it’s so important and you need to make time to learn.”
Our Heart Beat Club costs just $35 and takes three hours. It could be the difference between life and death for your child or loved-one. Find out more below.
