To mention some water safety issues we all need to know?

[Northernlurker]

Having read of some awful tragedies over the weekend with open water I thought I would start a thread with a few points and others can add. Because not everybody has had the same exposure to open water risks so what is common sense to one person is utterly unknown to others.

Open water in the UK is cold. Really cold. Even on sunny days. The deeper you go, the colder. This can take even fit and well people by surprise.

Don't jump in to unknown water ever. We are a rocky country populated by messy people. Water hides rocks, logs, metal and all manner of hazards.

Piers and jetty lead out from the shore to deep water so boats can be accessed. Don't regard them as an extension of the shore. The water will be both deep and cold.

Swim parallel to the shore, not out to sea.

No inflatables in the sea ever.

Tides move faster than you can walk, know what your exit route is.

If you can't swim, don't go out of your depth. Don't try and help people in trouble. You help just as much by fetching help or fetching items people in the water can hold on to.

Make sure your teenagers know these principles.

And remember 'float to live'

Drowning doesn’t look like drowning. if someone isn't moving much, is very quiet and unable to respond, get them out quickly or call for help.

slate.com/technology/2013/06/rescuing-drowning-children-how-to-know-when-someone-is-in-trouble-in-the-water.html

@Tealpink

A poor chap drowned at my local beach last week. He and his friends were walking parallel to the shore and noticed the water was suddenly up to their knees and rising quickly. They headed back inland when a freak wave washed over them, possible the wash from a scheduled catamaran. The beach is renown for quicksand but this was a really shocking and unexpected incident. The fire service have been out in force handing out leaflets with OP’s advice. Awful

Five drowned while walking on a beach today :(

@NotMyCat

Our local police are raging about it They posted this, and then three days later drone footage with faces of kids swimming in a quarry who had been drinking

Right this isn't funny and we are not playing games anymore. Lives are at risk here. Today this group of approximately 20 youths were swimming in the Fishery at. We obtained some of their details and they were between 12 and 14 years of age and were from a mix of schools including...

Do you know where your kids have been today? If they have returned home with anti vandal paint 🎨 on them you will know that they have been here. A number of them got anti vandal paint on themselves when trying to flee from the Police.

If you do know who they are please email me and we will arrange for them to have a group input from Beckie Ramsay who tragically lost her son Dylan to cold water shock from open water swimming

Dylan is local to me. My neighbour lost her teenage daughter when I was growing up when she went swimming in a nearby quarry.

@Diverseopinions

If only they had lifeguards at every beach.

The UK has 12.5 thousand KM of coastline....it's not slightly feasible. And not really needed, if people followed safety advice.

I'm a swimming teacher and we teach schools and private lessons the importance of water safety. I wish there was more advertisement about to educate people even adults. An ex boyfriend of mine died at just 21 after falling into the river ooze in York, after leaving his group of friends intoxicated. He was found 11 days later, that stays with me especially the police ringing me asking me questions about his disappearance, he was the start of his life never got to get married or have children of his own, his death was 100 percent preventable just a tragic accident.

Don't play about on other people's boats or pontoons. They might be old or dangerous.

If you are jumping from a pier/quay look before you jump that boats aren't coming in. You have no idea how many kids I see jumping in front of a boat with their parents right there. Boats can not stop easily.

@CorianderBee That’s horrific, where?

Absolutely tragic @CorianderBee

A friend’s young son drowned some years ago. They’d visited a new man made swimming lake before it officially opened, no lifeguards on duty yet which was made plain. Her son couldn’t yet swim and he wandered off, no arm bands. She’s never forgiven herself

With tides it’s also really important to look at how the tide comes in. If you are near a river or there are sand banks you might find the tide comes in behind you and you end up cut off. Sand banks can make it really hard to tell you don’t actually have a route back to shore anymore. It can also come in really fast. I’ve been at Minnis Bay before and seen people nearly get all their stuff wet because they don’t realise how fast the last bit of tide comes in.

Drowning doesn't look li,e drowning.
There was a long thread on here a few years ago. This poster on Twitter posts this every year. Worth a look because lots of examples of how a drowning person looks. It's not at all what you expect.
twitter.com/trishgreenhalgh/status/1418896428177444865?s=19

Another useful link about riptides. Someone drowned last week near Filey in a riptide.
m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1998045470353477&id=451224748368898

I have nothing useful to add, but what a good idea for a thread.

We have recently had a 13yo girl die very close to where I live, my heart absolutely breaks for all of her friends and family, some of which were actually in the water at the same time.

I admit, I’m not a strong swimmer I hate water and only ever stay where my feet touch the ground in the swimming pool. DH on the other hand is a very strong swimmer who adores the water and he taught our DD’s at a young age. I genuinely think it’s an important life skill to have but I will also drum home the importance of the FLOAT advice that was posted earlier - although we have never allowed them to properly swim in open water.

This is such a useful thread

Don't swim in millponds, other than well away from the weir or mill where the water is steady again. Someone I vaguely knew as a child drowned in a local millpond.

I learned the tough lesson about not jumping into to really cold water as a student: go in gradually. Make allowances for the current. If longshore drift is sweeping you down the coast, don't fight the current, just keep swimming towards the land. It doesn't matter if you come out a mile from where you went in, you can walk.

@Tealpink

Remember the RNLI is a charity not a funded organisation. They’re an emergency service, it’s so wrong they’re not funded isn’t it

I believe that they choose not to be government funded in order to remain completely independent

I am very fearful of any open water, and I’m really strict with the dc. Is it safer to paddle in the sea when the tide is going out so you don’t get caught in deeper water?

A teen lad died recently in my town. Got caught in a rip tide and had no chance. There's signs all over, saying not to swim but people ignore them.

@Hollyhead

I am very fearful of any open water, and I’m really strict with the dc. Is it safer to paddle in the sea when the tide is going out so you don’t get caught in deeper water?

Any beach which has lifeguards is safe to paddle in. That's a good rule of thumb.

Following on from @FlyingPandas, never swim in a pool wearing a blue swimsuit. You become invisible when under water.

I also second dogs on leads when walking near cliffs. We have a lot of cliffs where I live and the coastguard is out frequently attempting to rescue dogs that have gone over. Sadly they are rarely found alive, if at all.

@Nicknacky yes it was strange to see people having fun in water that people lost their lives in just hours ago really. Not that you can expect people to never go in again but didn’t sit right with me tbh.

@Badgerforbreakfast I agree, while life goes on it just seems so soon when it’s so high profile in the news and the news cameras are still there.

I didn’t know that @FlyingFlamingo, thank you.

Such a valuable thread, thank you OP.

My grandfather was on a boat which was sunk in wartime. He was a non swimmer. He managed to tread water for many hours in the cold and dark til rescue came. It must have been terrifying. He never went near any expanse of water after that, it made him physically ill.

Could I add also please keep an eye on your children in pools even if they can swim? A little girl nearly drowned in the pool of a UK hotel I stayed at as a child (small pool, no lifeguard). She was about 9, a competent swimmer, but got cramp and got into difficulties in the deep end. My dad saved her, her parents hadn't even noticed she was struggling.

The Ingham's (one of those YouTube families) recently filmed their kids on paddle boards on Loch Lomond without any form of buoyancy aid, and rightly came on for a lot of criticism. Apparently their excuse was they didn't know. 🤷🤦‍♀️

I totally agree with BashfulClam.
I went to a lake when I was 8. Someone got lost in water, lots of people volunteered to look for the child, including my dad. It was undercurrent that sucked him into the water. It was very scary to know calm water isn't really calm. But I've learned the great life lesson.
I am a good swimmer, but I am also very cautious around water.

My scariest swimming moment was as a non swimmer aged about 11. I had a rubber ring around me, I was trying to swim with it and it slipped down around my legs, legs went up, head went down. I can still remember the panic as I tried to kick the ring off, it was harder to do than you would think. And this wasn’t in the sea, a river or a busy public pool. It was a school swimming pool , teacher in attendance, she didn’t even notice that one of the three red hatted non swimmers was having problems. Thanks a bunch Miss Williams!