Drowning prevention week
SATURDAY is the start of Drowning Prevention Week, and as boaters we are all acutely aware of the numbers of people who end up in the water, writes Mick Fitzgibbons.
In the summer its seems that not a day goes by, without a news item about people entering the water and often drowning as a result.
Not only limited to children
Children are attracted to the canals and rivers and it is a very heartbreaking thing to read about such instances. But it is not only limited to children as we discovered ourselves a couple of years ago, in an incident on the Chesterfield Canal where we came across a member of the public suffering from hypothermia and unable to move.
He had tripped and stumbled on the towpath and as a result had fallen into the canal. Landing head first he had been completely submerged. He had however managed to claw his way to the bank and pull himself out of the water. He had also crawled along the towpath for a short distance.
In a terrible state
Some time afterwards (estimated at 45 minutes) we came across him, he was in a terrible state. The weather was just above freezing and the wind chill was quite significant.We immediately sent for an ambulance. Using the map apps on the Android phone we were able to pinpoint our exact location to summon the emergency services. We were then able to guide them to the exact spot.
You can read about it here (Diabolical CaRT emergency service)
Encourages the public
Now as the weather gets warmer, more people will be drawn to lakes and ponds as well as the canals and rivers that form the Inland Waterways. As the Trust encourages the public to come and walk and cycle the towpaths and as towpaths are upgraded and become short cuts to and from people's places of work, the canal towpaths are now being encouraged for use for everyone's leisure. So the number of casualties will inevitably grow.
The school curriculum has changed since my day—when everyone had to learn to swim. Times change and families often have to pay now for children's swimming lessons. It's important to get that message across about teaching our children how to swim and how to get out of the water. It's important to teach children how to help save a friend in the water without placing themselves at risk. It's also important to teach them how to summon help and that floatation devices are not a plaything but provided to save lives.
'Families' stories'
The 'Families' Stories' film features people from across the UK who have lost someone to drowning and have shared their tragic experiences. The film aims to raise awareness of the issue of drowning and to back the Royal Life Saving Society UK's annual Drowning Prevention Week campaign, which runs from 20th to 28th June this year.
It has taken a great deal of courage by the brave families who took part in the film. Please watch: