Oxfordshire Fire Service urge people to stay safe around rivers and lakes
Today is World Drowning Prevention Day
Today (July 25th) is World Drowning Prevention Day, and the Surrey Fire and Rescue lead for water and flood response, has urged people to respect open water.
More than 300,000 people lose their lives to drowning every single year worldwide. Although this number is falling, it's still over 30 people per hour.
In the UK, statistics show 193 people lost their lives in open water last year, with six of those being in Oxfordshire.
Deb Forder is Safety Manager at Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, says “open water can be extremely dangerous and we tend to underestimate the dangers that are there”.
She added: “The dangers may be the temperature, which can cause cold water reflex shock, which means you've got no control over that with your body, and your body will gasp for air.
“Another danger is the flow, so what you may see at the top is not necessarily what's happening underneath, and it could be that you're subject to current flows.
“Add that to cold water reflex shock, cold muscles not working very well - may mean you get into difficulty very easily.”
Float to Live is a Campaign by the RNLI which is also backed by Oxfordshire’s Fire and Rescue Service.
The RNLI say the best way to float is to ‘tilt your head back with your ears submerged.
‘Try to relax and breathe normally. You can gently move your hands and legs to help you stay afloat if you need to. Spread your arms and legs out to improve stability – and it's OK if your legs sink, we all float differently.’
Ms Forder adds: “It gives you a chance to regulate your breathing and get your breathing back to normal. It'll allow the panic to subside and give you the opportunity to either shout for help, or if you're capable, get to one of the banks by swimming.”