Drowning; a national issue to be addressed : Lifeguards play pivotal role

How to identify a drowning victim :

How to act when a victim is saved :

There are many ways to identify a drowning victim. Even an untrained individual could do this if he or she is familiar with what has to be done.

If a person is constantly being dragged further into the water although he is desperately trying to swim towards land, no progress in swimming is seen, seems tired and desperate with strange limb movement, if he or she has already met with an accident, glancing scarily towards the shore, if a person is waving his hands calling for help, remaining silent by holding on to a floating object or trying to grasp breath by making a movement similar to of climbing a ladder are some of the internationally recognised signs that a person is drowning.

If a person is drowning, one could do so many things to save a drowning victim. Not necessarily that a person has to jump into the water and swim to save a victim but could act remaining on land too. If you are tactful there are ways to easily save a life by throwing a long timber pole or a branch of wood, throwing a floating object like a tyre, a plastic tube or a bottle, a bucket or a football or reach out a hand if the victim is close to land.

If a drowning victim is rescued there are a number of steps to be followed. Most importantly don't try to get involved if there are any trained lifeguards are around. Let them do their duty and make way for the operations. Do not leave the victim in an upright position or face down as it will enable the water to enter into the stomach and flow into the lungs, which could result in istantaneous death.

Always make a drown victim to lie sideways and let the water flow out of the mouth. Perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) if you are trained to do so and urgently take the patient to hospital. Do not use a trishaw as there is no chance for a victim to lie horizontally. Always use a large vehicle like van to transport the victim.

Surging waters are the draw of all young people . They just leap into the gushing waters throwing caution to the winds. It has been observed that this is a growing trend among young people.

About a year ago two male youth who went to bathe in the Wattala sea and were rescued by lifeguards, when they spotted them in difficulty. Two of them who were in a semi conscious state were given immediate treatment and first aid on the beach. One of the rescued was hospitalsed while the other was released after he gained consciousness. The relatives of the second victim prevented the lifeguards from taking the boy to hospital and instead forcibly took him home. The boy passed away on following morning. The cause of his death was due to water entering the lungs.

It has been found that drowning is the second leading cause of death due to unintentional injury in Sri Lanka after motor traffic accidents and the third largest cause of death in the world. Although no specific mechanism is in place to monitor the number of deaths reported a year due to drowning at present, it is estimated at least 1, 100 die annually in Sri Lanka. Even the Statistics Division of the Police Department does not possess information related to drowning reported throughout the country but ironically the Police maintain a file containing deaths reported due to suicide from drowning. Last year 151 cases of drowning due to suicide were reported, of them 87 were males and 64 were females.

Drowning is defined as respiratory impairment from being in or under a liquid is a quick and silent way of losing one's life. A person who is drowning is unable to shout or call for help, or seek attention as they cannot obtain enough air.

The instinctive drowning response is the final set of autonomic reactions in the 20 to 60 seconds before sinking underwater. To an untrained eye this may look similar to calm and safe behaviour. Lifeguards and other persons trained in rescue learn to recognise drowning people by watching for these instinctive movements.

In Sri Lanka drowning has become a common cause of death because of easy access to abundant waterways and waterfronts within the country and around the island. The number of individuals and groups drown in lakes, rivers, canals, streams and natural pools within the country is high compared to the number of people drowning in the sea.

According to Asanka Nanayakkara, Secretary General of the Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka, most drowning instances are reported not while people are having fun in the sea or lake but in their routine lifestyles, maybe when they engage in their daily chores or while bathing.

Sri Lanka being an agricultural nation has an abundant number of water- related environments when compared to many Asian countries and most western countries.

Tourists from far away lands merely visit this paradise isle for the most amazing and adventurous water sports available here. The water environments are safe compared to many other countries and locals as well as tourists love to swim, surf and bathe. For a person who knows how to swim there is no other destination like Sri Lanka to explore and indulge in his hobby.

Unlike in foreign countries there are hardly any threats to the exploring swimmer with less vicious and deadly animals such as crocodiles (except for certain known locations) or sharks that maintain its natural habitat in the waterways. Considerably low amount of dangerous currents or waves and no whirlpools at all. More over the water temperature whether it be an inland lake or the sea remains soothing and warm unlike in many beaches in the world which cannot be used due to the freezing water temperature levels. But Sri Lanka possesses a number of beautiful and safe beaches to bathe, swim and do other water sports in its 1, 340 kilometre long coastal belt.

Except for those who do know how to swim or at least to float without being drowning most of the unfortunate cases report because of the helplessness and the uneducated nature of the civilians. People drown merely because not that they don't know how to swim but they simply don't know how to behave in a watery environment. And more over there are not sufficient awareness programs and warning signs displayed in each and every waterfront in the country, which is practically not possible. The Ministry of Disaster Management is actively engaged in identifying dangerous and risky places to swim or bathe and set up warning signs wherever it is required.

Most of the public bathing spots in famous rivers, lakes, tanks, reservoirs, canals linked to tourist destinations as well as pilgrimage sites have been facilitated with these warning signs. The Disaster Management Ministry is working hand in hand with the Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka, which is the prime body of the country responsible for authorised training of lifeguards. Led by its President Sanath Wijeyaratne and Secretary General cum experienced lifeguard Asanka Nanayakkara are committed to aware the public in how to identify water related risks and to behave in such environments.

Most of the drowning accidents occur when people do not pay heed to certain salient safety points. Except for a rare encounter with a dangerous animal in the water most people get into trouble simply because they being overly confident about their swimming skills, trying to defeat peers in a group and act heroic, risking their own safety by relying too much on stamina, panic when they get a muscle cramp and forget to swim, bullying others and trying to submerge somebody in the water who is already exhausted.

The experts request from the people who bathe in the sea or in an inland lake to be cautious about certain factors before entering the water.

In the sea the swimmers are warned to be vigilant about underwater rock beds, not to swim if there are strong waves and tides and the water is not calm, not to bathe if the water is too deep and rough, if the tides are dragging unusually to certain sides and if possible not to swim alone no matter how skilled you are. And when swimming in a lake always be careful about the underwater mud and sand levels, never to swim near estuaries or reservoir sluice gates where strong currents are expected at any moment.

The Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka (LSASL) is the controlling body for life saving activity in the country, affiliated to the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) and Commonwealth Royal Life Saving. The LSASL is registered with the Ministries of Sports, Health, Education, Defence and Disaster Management. Today it has thousands of members and over three thousand Bronze medallists have been able to save a huge number of lives in various parts of the country. There are over 54 affiliated clubs under LSASL and more than two thousand active life savers carrying out their duties all over the country.

These 54 affiliated clubs include the main law enforcement authorities in Sri Lanka that committed for life saving activities. Members of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Police, Civil Defence Force trained by the LSASL engaged in various duties countrywide. When Sri Lanka Coast Guard and SL Navy is controlling the situation around the coastal belt the inland life saving activities are carried out by the Police and the Civil Defence Force. These lifeguards are deployed at Duty Points in various public bathing and swimming spots both beaches and inland water environment. Well trained and clad in a bright red and yellow uniform and equipped with the necessary gear to rescue drowning victims these lifeguards man duty points.

There are 14 main Duty Points maintained by the Sri Lanka Coast Guard set up in crucial coastal locations starting from down south Matara, Mirissa, Galle, Hikkaduwa, Beruwala, Kalutara, Panadura, Dehiwela, Mount Lavinia, Wellawatta and Galle Face Green. All these Duty Points facilitated with a solidly built watch tower is backed by five lifeguards, sophisticated equipments. They will man these towers round the clock on busy days and in weekends where large crowds attracted to the beaches. Other than these western coastal duty points the Police has 28 permanent duty points in the East including the strategic locations like Arugam Bay, Passikudah, Uppuweli and Trincomalee where the seas are popular for water sports like windsurfing and jet ski riding.

Apart from the stand by lifeguards stationed in these duty points there is another important sign that is being displayed for the visiting swimmers. Internationally recognised Lifeguard Flags symbolizes the safety of the beach or the swimming area. It will state whether its a safe to swim area, danger - no swimming area, an area monitored by the lifeguards etc. Especially foreign tourists who arrive in the country for water sports are highly familiar with these international codes and protect themselves from hazards.

Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka

The LSASL was formed in 1947 by the Australian lifeguards. It was started with beach life saving. The foreigners who found number of beach boys in the coastal belt gave a training making them the first local lifeguards. Although life saving activities in Sri Lanka had reported since 1920' the proper system of training lifeguards was initiated in late forties. LSASL which is a non-profitable voluntary organisation has the sole authority to train and issue ILS Certificates to the local lifeguards. The certificate is similar to possessing a license for a lifeguard to commence its role in saving lives. There are about 125 countries around the world who are members of the ILS and only 34 member countries could issue ILS Certificate to their respective lifeguards, which Sri Lanka is also one country.

LSASL currently issue four of the main ILS Certificates starting from ILS Junior Life Saver (a 12-year-old child could obtain this following a proper training), ILS Life Saver (the intermediate level), ILS Pool Life Guard (for swimming pools) and ILS Surf Lifeguard or the Beach Lifeguard (the most qualified level).

The categories of the life saving medals are divided into three segments concerning the seniority ranks of lifeguards in a country and the responsibilities fall on them. At present the Sri Lanka is awarded only with a Bronze Medal which symbolizes a Duty Lifeguard. A Silver Medal is awarded to a Patrol Captain and for Basic Beach Management like operating a watch tower and maintaining a crew of lifeguards under him. The Gold Medial is awarded to a Duty Manager in charge of a large area with an Advance Beach Management activities. LSASL is however confident that Sri Lanka will be awarded with the Silver Medal this year and the Gold Medial in 2015.

The LSASL is today engaged in a countrywide program to aware the school children about the importance of learning how to swim or at least to float without being drowning. Swimming is a very strenuous sport that need lot of attention and practice. If hundred students came on day one it will be reduced to ten within a week. Most students come for swimming practices for the love of playing in the water but would quit easily if they were about to drown once or twice.

Therefore the LSASL is encouraging the swimming coaches to at least teach the children how to float on the water first than swimming, which could be useful to them in a future emergency. And it is a national issue that has to be addressed very soon concerning the number of lives lost every year.