Did you know every year in Australia 180 people die in public swimming pools and aquatic facilities? With the planet heating up due to global warming, this statistic is going to only increase. Warmer days, more people visiting their local swimming pool, more deaths.
Something has to be done about this. We need to rethink the way we do safety at public swimming pools. All staff members at these facilities need advanced training in CPR and water rescue. Learn to swim classes should be free to all the underprivileged people in our communities who can't afford them. There should be more signage at pools educating the public on the dangers of swimming in pools. A special police task force should be deployed to investigate breaches to the new pool legislation that the government needs to enact to ensure all public swimming facilities are compliant.
Do you agree?
What if I told you out of these 180 people who die every year in public swimming pools and aquatic facilities, 83% of them are male?
These males change things somewhat. Now we don't have a problem with swimming abilities and pool dangers. Now we have a problem with young boys and men going to pools and behaving in a manner that is dangerous and getting themselves killed. This male bravado and risk-taking is causing the deadly epidemic in Australian pools. Boys need to be educated on how to manage their inherent toxic instincts and how to behave more like girls when at the pool. If we can somehow neuter this behavior in boys we can stop the out-of-control deaths at pools.
What if I told you out of these 83% males, almost all of them are over the age of 65?
Now we don't have a problem with young boys behaving badly at swimming pools. Now we have the real issue. Nobody drowns at public swimming pools. You have a higher chance of drowning in your own bathtub than you do at your local pool. What happens is old men go swimming in pools and sometimes they die. 93% of them die from cardiac arrest. They could have died anywhere. However, for a few, their heart just coincidentally stopped when they decided to take a dip. You could say these deaths are a result of pre-existing conditions or co-morbidities. This is why 180 people die every year in public swimming pools and aquatic facilities.
If you are wondering why most of them are men, well that's because old men have fewer qualms about their aging bodies than old women. Therefore, they are more likely to go down to the local pool in their budgie smugglers.
Any change in pool safety procedures, training, education, or government legislation would be in vain.
This is the sinister nature of statistical analyses to prove points and promote agendas. One statistic can be used to push any point of view. The same statistic could be used to argue opposing points of view at the same time. Statistics, just like scientific studies, are meaningless without their full context and unbiased analyses. Two things that no statistic has today.
Like the vegan who claims meat-eaters have a higher chance of getting cancer ignoring the myriad of processed foods, sugar, plants, and chemicals that those same meat-eaters digest.
Did you know more than 10 million Americans died under President Obama? One of history's great mass murderers I suppose.
As our culture moves further towards the cult of "Science" and "trust the experts" never has it been more important to reject statistics. As a wise man once said, there are three types of lies: "lies, damned lies, and statistics".