During the month of June the LSCP will be posting messages on water safety. We’re asking all our partners to help get these messages out to all the families and children and young people that they support, in order to keep children safe.
Drowning Prevention Week - 17th June 2023
When the weather is hot young people can be tempted to go for a dip in the local river or reservoir, but swimming in open waters is extremely dangerous.
Examples of open waters include canals, rivers, reservoirs and lakes.
There are many risks to swimming in open waters:
- The water can be extremely cold, even on a hot day. The shock of cold water affects your muscles making it very difficult to swim and increases the difficulty of getting out of the water if you get into a dangerous situation
- There is a lack of safety equipment and increased difficulty for rescue if you do get into a difficulty. There are also no life guards to help
- It is difficult to estimate the depth of the water and this changes and is unpredictable with uneven river beds
- Underwater objects and hazards may not be visible and there may be hidden rubbish like shopping trolleys or glass.
- Strong currents can rapidly sweep people away even if you are strong swimmer
- Open waters are not meant for swimming and so have steep banks which are very difficult to get in and out of
- The water might be polluted with toxic algal blooms and industrial/agricultural pollution and therefore can make you ill.
The RLSS website provides lots of helpful information on water safety including water safety resources which encourage a safe relationship with the water.
The LSCP will be posting water safety messages throughout the summer, when the risk to young people, through accidental drowning increases significantly. Please download our resources and digitally share our key water safety messages using your social media and websites, to get the message out across the city.