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Securing a rights based approach to children's survival and development

The Honourable Catherine Branson QC, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission recently delivered the 2010 "Rights of the Child" lecture.

In this speech Catherine Branson argues that

"The Australian Human Rights Commission believes that the best way to ensure respect for and commitment to the healthy development of all children in Australia is through a rights-based approach.

Children’s rights are not abstract or aspirational. They are grounded firmly in the basic human needs for life, growth and development. Quite aside from its ethical and moral force, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a legal document which sets out standards, and assigns responsibility for ensuring these standards are met."

Catherine Branson also puts forward the case for a National Children's Commissioner. A position that would compliment the role of the state based Children's Commissioners, arguing that:

"A national Children’s Commissioner operating under the human rights framework would make an invaluable contribution to the well-being of all children in Australia. A national Children’s Commissioner would:

- operate as a national advocate for children’s rights, ensuring that government decision-making processes and outcomes are consistent with the best interests of children
- develop mechanisms to secure the participation of children in decisions that affect them
- provide a coordinated approach to children’s rights."

While in this speech Catherine Branson does not directly refer to issues surrounding disabled children she does state that

"Too often we fail in our responsibilities toward vulnerable children and young people in Australia."

It is clear that the same principles which Catherine Branson calls upon apply to the situation for children with complex medical needs who need access to services and equipment in order to ensure that they can develop to their fullest potential. Services and equipment which children with complex needs and their families struggle to obtain, or are forced into excessive waiting periods to obtain.

Accordingly the Samuel Morris Foundation also supports the call for the appointment of a National Children's Commissioner.

Catherine Bransons full speech can be found here.

Sydney parents save toddler after bathtub drowning

Joshua Wallace amazed doctors after making a full recovery. (Nine News)

Joshua Wallace's story is a miracle, as well as reminder that drownings don't just occur in backyard swimming pools. They also happen in bathtubs, buckets and other water sources around the house, as well as back yard swimming pools and natural water sources like dams, rivers, creeks etc, and reminder that it only takes a moment for a toddler to get into trouble in any water.

Joshua's mum, Krystin, with the assistance of expert guidance from the Ambulance Services 000 call operator provided Joshua with vital CPR that may well have been the difference in Joshua's miracle recovery.

Joshua's full story can be found here at Channel Nine News

Joshua's parents have been in touch with the Samuel Morris Foundation and we appreciate their desire to become involved in helping to spread the prevention message.

Putting yourself out there to public scrutiny is not a decision that is taken lightly as there is sometimes negative feedback for parents in these circumstances.

Any parent who has been through a drowning or near drowning will tell you that the guilt does not ever go away.

We would like to thanks Krystin and Greg for taking the chance and putting their story out there.

We would also like to thank Channel Nine for including a link to the Samuel Morris Foundation in the online version of the story.

Please take the Wallace's story as a reminder to:

Always supervise children in and around any water source
Provide effective barriers to keep children away from water sources (such as full bath tubs)
Make children familiar with water through learn to swim classes
Know CPR and first aid.... as you have seen here this may well be the difference between a miracle and poor outcome.

Please make a donation to help us support children who are not as fortunate as Joshua, and who survive their near drowning with a brain injury that leaves them with disabilities for life.

Comment on the Rural and Remote Water Safety Plan

The draft of the Australian Rural and Remote Water Safety Plan is now available on the Australian Water Safety Council Website (www.watersafety.com.au)

This Australian Rural and Remote Water Safety Plan (RRWSP) 2010 - 2015 builds upon the Australian Water Safety Strategy (AWSS) 2008-2011 and was developed by the Australian Water Safety Council (AWSC) in collaboration with water safety agencies; organisations working in and for rural and remote people; government; and other groups with an interest in drowning prevention.

This plan seeks to add to those areas of the AWSS 2008-2011 where specific activities / programs / services etc would benefit from a rural and remote perspective, however it also has attempted to add areas where specific work is required in rural and remote areas to achieve the aspirational goal of a 50% reduction in the number of drowning deaths by 2020.

This draft version of the plan will be available on-line at http://www.watersafety.com.au/AWSCReports/tabid/58/Default.aspx until 1-October-2010 for comment. Please provide any feedback to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . When providing feedback please note the section / page number / paragraph to which you are referring, please also send any material to which the proposed changes relate to so that we can reference accordingly.

A mother shares the near drowning recovery experience

This story comes from an inspiring mother, Shauna Quintero in the United States who is sharing, at her blog, a frank and honest review of the progress of her son Christian following a near drowning in 2009 at the age of 11 months.

Her blog can be found at... Christian's Journey

Why every near drowning requires medical attention

image by Mike Baird

Every time someone has a near drowning, particularly if it has required CPR, they MUST receive medical attention and be thoroughly checked.

This story from the USA highlights why.

Two days after a near drowning incident during which CPR was performed but the child seemed to be immediately alright, the four year olds breathing difficulties became apparent.

An x-ray revealed that he had fluid on his lungs. Pneumonia is always a potential outcome from a near drowning as there are always organisms in any water that may have been inhaled, no matter how clean or clear the water in which the near drowning occurred. Pneumonia is a critical condition that can and does claim lives.

As it says in the article. "anytime you have a near drowning, the person should be checked out at the hospital, no matter how good they look or feel."

Individual funding for disability support

Image by Horia Varlan

The Samuel Morris Foundation is one of the organisations supporting the push for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

One of the objectives is to see individual case funding which is individually controlled. This model has been in use in in some jurisdictions for a while.

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs recenty published a paper by Fishcer et al on the Effectiveness of Individual funding approaches for disability support.

Not surprisingly the outcomes of moving to individual funding were generally positive, although as also expected there are concerns for disabled people and their family/carers about the future as parents/care-givers age.

The Samuel Morris Foundation fully supports the introduction of individualised case funding and giving the control of services to the disabled people and their families. Increased choice and control over the services which can be accessed will force improvements in services and make services directly responsible to and accountable to the people that they exist to serve.

The full report can be found HERE

The reality of grieving for a child with complex medical needs

Sculpture - My Boy by Nathan Sawaya

Photo by Tony the Misfit @ Flickr

Many of the children that survive a near (non-fatal) drowning will be left with a brain injury that results in lifelong disabilities. The families of these children will experience ongoing grief throughout their time caring for their child.

Deborah Tiel Millard's child did not have a near drowning, but Deborah and her family experienced eight years caring for a child with complex medical needs due to other causes, however the process of dealing with the ongoing grief is the same and well explained by Deborah.

Deborah wrote this article for the the E-Magazine Complex Child. So to gain an insight into the ongoing grief that families experience when dealing with complex medical care and disabilities please take the time to read the original article by following this link.

A Process of Grief: The Reality of Grieving a Child with Complex Health Care Needs

Drowning - it doesn't look like you think

You have watched people drown on TV they thrash about and yell.......... life is not like this when people drown for REAL.

This story by a person who spent their career as a professional rescue swimmer with the the United States Coast Guard will dispel your misconceptions about what drowning looks like..... it really makes you think!

http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/drowning/?10981

Start a small business social good campaign

It is no secret that people are more inclined to purchase from companies who are working to improve our world. Cause marketing is a great way to both draw people to your company and create good will, and it's definitely something small businesses can take part in too.

As a small business owner how much bang for your buck do you get with a social good campaign with the Major Charities? If you are a small business owner are you going to achieve measurable exposure for your donations worth hundreds of dollars instead of the many thousands that Major Corporates put towards these charities, and how much of this is then spent on glossy magazine, television, radio or newspaper advertising?

With so many companies pledging to a single large charity, you need to make your businesses campaign stand out. Unless you can convince the large charities that you will be able to raise a significant amount for their organisation, they probably won't be interested in actively working WITH YOU.

Individuals tend to be less motivated to rally behind larger non-profits/charities because they often feel their small contribution won't make enough of an impact. People want to feel their contribution counts, however small it may be. Campaigns such as "Liking" a companies Fan Page for a $1 donation to a powerhouse charity likely won't be as inspiring as giving the same small amount to a smaller charity that might be perceived as more in need of the money.

At the Samuel Morris Foundation your donations and contributions through cause marketing campaigns DIRECTLY impact on supporting children with brain injuries and preventing future deaths and disabilities. We have no major overheads, all of our management and staff are volunteers and we are eager to WORK WITH YOUR BUSINESS to find ways that your helping us can help you. So as a small business owner if you are looking to actively work with a charity that is as equally keen to work with your business, please get in touch with us by giving us a call or emailing us.

How do our doctors and nurses do it?

Have you ever stopped to consider how our doctors and nurses (and our emergency services people) deal with life and death situations in their working lives?

These people often hold the lives of our loved ones in their hands. While they all do their jobs with outstanding professionalism, compassion and care dealing with life and death touches them personaly just like everyone else. We have previously covered the perspective of a medical retrieval doctor in "Rivers of Tears"

Emily is doctor in the USA just about to fininshing the residency portion of her medical training. She has written a powerful account of what the experience of dealing with life and death is like. While the story she tells is not about a near drowning case (although she does mention near-drowning cases) I urge you to read it and consider the impact.

As former Australian Swimmer Julia Ham recently said to me..." I learned that near drowning is not just an incident that happens on one day to one person. It happens to families, and changes to course of not only the survivors life, but the life of parents and siblings" and to that we should add that it also affects the emergency services and medical staff that deal with it as well.

So read on.... with Emily's account at this link ...."There but for....."

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