that everything would be OK? Why did I scold my child that morning, on that morning of all mornings? Why didn't I hug and kiss him and tell him how much I loved him? And why did I take him to play by that pool, with those people, on that terrible day? If you want a dollar figure on pool death costs, The Westmead Hospital report says the state government has estimated the cost of child "immersions" in home swimming pools to be approximately $23 million a year in public funds "based on five drowning deaths and three near-drowning incidents that result in severe brain damage." And it focuses on the near-drownings, the ones that require medical and institutional care for probably the rest of their lives, as a vital aspect of the infant pool deaths issue that's not being taken into account by the law-makers. "Near drowning figures are currently not discussed as part of the overall statistical reporting on drowning, and a large bank of knowledge about the circumstances ... is absent from the evidence base for prevention programs," it says. "This also means the general public and policy decision makers in government are not accessing the full impact of drowning and near-drowning in NSW. There is a need to produce near-drowning statistics, including long term care, on an annual basis to determine the true extent." Why has it taken two decades to demand mandatory registration for safety measures? Anyone who's lost an infant in a pool can