People in Teesside encouraged to stay safe in the water this summer
Cleveland Fire and the RNLI are both issuing advice
People in Teesside are being warned about the dangers of the water this summer and to stay safe.
The Royal Life Saving Society says there are 307 accidental drownings each year on average in the UK and Ireland.
It is also warning that we are at the most dangerous point of the year when it comes to drowning deaths, as 56 percent of all children who die in open water do so in June, July or August.
Cleveland Fire Brigade are the ones who respond to in-land water incidents in places like rivers, lakes and canals.
Craig Strike, head of prevention and engagement at Cleveland Fire Brigade, said: "We want people to stay safe and enjoy the water but I think it's about us basically making sure that peolpe are aware of the risks. Across the world last year there were over 230,000 people who lost their lives due to drowning and a couple of hundreds of those occurred in the UK and unfortunately, a large percentage who lose their lives are children.
"We don't want people to not enjoy the water but what we want people to do is to do it safely, so we encourage safe behaviour when people are either around water or just stop and think before you engage in what you might see as OK but it turns out to be an unsafe activity.
"We ask people to supervise their children when they're near water, make sure that we don't have any alcohol when people are near water and be aware of your surroundings, so whilst something may look particularly safe it doesn't mean it will be. We ask people if they can use buoys and life jackets etc and encouraging people to learn how to swim.
"There's a big push for organisations, which Cleveland Fire Brigade are supporting, to go blue, so if you pass any of our fire stations at 9.30am, you'll see we have our fire appliances out with no sirens but we have blue lights shining. It's just to raise awareness for people of the dangers of water because I don't think it's a routine discussion that people would have with their children."
Over on the coast, people are being urged to stay safe in the sea.
The RNLI says go to a lifeguarded beach, like in Saltburn and Redcar.
John Reece, water safety officer at Redcar RNLI, said: "The one flag that they have to look out for is the red and yellow flag. There'll be two of those positioned roughly about 15m apart, depending on the beach, and that's the safest area to swim. That's the area being monitored by the lifeguards. If a red flag goes up the flagpole, then get out the water immediately or don't enter the water if you've just arrived at the beach.
"The other flag to be aware of is like a windsock, like they use at the airports, that'll have two words on it: 'no inflatables.' We always advise to keep inflatables at home, use them at hotel swimming pools but do not bring them down to the beach.
"An incident on Sunday there was a gentleman with his daughter, his daughter was in an inflatable canoe and he was on an inflatable duck. He fell off and within five minutes, the duck was about a mile and a half blown out of the shore. Now, if a young child had been on that duck then we would have been sending a big, orange lifeboat out to rescue that child.
"Float to live will safe your life. Roll on your back, spread your arms and legs like a starfish and then immerse your ears in the water, keep your mouth facing to the sky, you can breathe normally and once you're relaxed you can either swim back if you have the capability or if not, then raise your hands and start shouting.
"The sea never gets warm. Even on the hottest day on land the sea will always be cold. It would be no more than 14c or 15c, which we class as cold water and it actually does actually warm up a little bit but that's not until September."