DROWNING ACCIDENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21398, 24 January 1933, Page 8

DROWNING ACCIDENTS

Through drowning accidents heavy toll has again been taken on life this summer. When hot weather causes a general rush to bathing places, some accidents are inevitable. People who cannot swim get out of their depth and in the absence of competent succour, may die within feet of safety. Sometimes bathers with ordinary skill in swimming are carried out by a treacherous undertow in tidal waters and lose their lives. To reduce this melancholy record there is work for many people. In the first place those capable of teaching swimming should seize every opportunity to do so. Nowhere, perhaps, is tuition more needed than in inland places where children often miss the advantages that naturally come to those near the sea. There people go to the rivers to bathe, but many cannot swim or are not sufficiently experienced to get out of trouble. The local swimmers should make an effort to have organised classes, going to some pains to bring their services to adults who may be ashamed to reveal their ignorance of this important art. On the popular sea beaches patrols from the lifesaving clubs are a safeguard, and it should be known that parties going to the more remote shores may secure the services of a swimmer trained in life-saving if they apply to the clubs. All beaches, however, cannot be patrolled. Life-saving equipment might be more widely distributed, but it must be recognised that in the absence of skilled swimmers it may easily be a menace to life. On the open shores perhaps the most valuable form of protection would be adequate sign posting. Often water conditions are most deceptive. Frequently there is danger at the ebb and low tide, which is not apparent to the stranger. Signboards should be erected in many places to warn not only the foolhardy but the experienced swimmer. It is a work which might be performed by relief labour under the direction of local authorities.