Avoid drowning incidents this summer
Emergency medical services providers tend to receive more calls related to drowning and water-associated emergency incidents during December and January than any other months.
For South Africans, the month of December means fun, sunshine and outdoor activities involving water-sport and swimming.
However, it can unfortunately also be a time fraught with tragedy for those who are inexperienced, unable to swim and who may for some or other reason be vulnerable to drowning.
David Stanton, head of clinical leadership at Netcare 911, asserted that emergency medical services providers tend to receive more calls related to drowning and water-associated emergency incidents during December and January than any other months.
“Our statistics reveal that the greatest percentage of all drowning incidents during the year occur during the peak holiday periods. This is attributable to the high volumes of tourists, both foreign and local, who flock to the beaches during school holidays and over the festive season,” David said.
“Incidents of drowning are also significantly higher in the coastal areas than inland during December and January. Looking at data extracted from Netcare 911 for the period 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017, as much as 62 per cent of all drowning incidents occurred during peak summer months. When reviewing statistics for the entire year, coastal areas reflect 55 per cent of all drowning incidents.”
This is why Netcare 911 would like to provide the following tips to keep you safe at the beach:
• Be absolutely vigilant where small children and older individuals are concerned. Keep a watchful eye on children at all times when around water.
• Swim at beaches where lifeguards are on duty and keep to the specifically demarcated areas designated for safe swimming. For your own safety swim in the areas closest to the lifeguards.
• Be mindful of warning signs that may indicate dangerous swimming conditions such as strong currents, sharks and other dangerous sea life, as well as contaminated water.
• Please remember that swimming in the ocean, where there is wave action and at times dangerous currents and sea life, is very different from swimming in a pool.
• Young children and inexperienced swimmers should wear life-jackets or swimming aids to ensure their safety.
• Be careful not to dive into water where you cannot see the bottom. It is particularly dangerous to dive into the water headfirst as you could very easily injure your neck.
• Steer clear of the ocean if you notice a choppy current with murky water.
• If you get pulled out to sea, stay calm and save your energy. Allow the current to carry you for a while and then swim parallel to the shore until such time as you are out of the current. If you cannot swim to the shore, float or tread water until you are safe from the rip current.
“In any emergency situation, the most important thing to do is contact the correct emergency number immediately. Try to memorise the number for the emergency services in your area and keep the number saved on your cellphone and close to your landline telephone,” he said.
What to do in the event of drowning:
• Get the victim out of the water as soon as possible, but do not become a victim yourself. Make sure it is safe for you to enter the water first.
• Handle the victim with care. Many submersion incidents are associated with neck injuries, so keep movement to the back and neck to a minimum.
• Assess to see if the victim is awake by asking, “Hello can you hear me?”
• Check for breathing by looking at the chest for no longer than 10 seconds. If the victim is not breathing or not breathing normally (i.e. gasping), call for immediate medical assistance.
• Call, or have someone call, a recognised medical emergency service provider such as Netcare 911 on 082 911 as soon as possible. Whoever calls for the ambulance must give the dispatcher an accurate location of the incident and a contact number at the scene. Never hang up on the operator and always return to the rescuer to inform them that you have called for help.
• If the victim is not breathing, immediately start CPR, beginning with chest compressions. Keep doing CPR at a ratio of 30 chest compressions, and then 2 breaths.
• CPR is vital, even if it is an amateur administering it. Keep on doing it until someone who is trained in advanced life support arrives and can take over.
“A basic course in first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can make a dramatic difference in the outcome should the skills be applied timeously,” David explained.
For further information on CPR courses, contact the Netcare 911 Faculty of Emergency and Critical Care on 010 209 8911 or visit the Netcare 911 website.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at krugersdorpnews@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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