World Drowning Prevention Day is on Tuesday 25 July this year and RBWM will be dedicating the next four weeks to a water safety and education campaign. Even though the Royal Borough is landlocked, there is the River Thames, the Jubilee River as well as private lakes and smaller bodies of water. Nationally these are the locations where 60 percent of all accidental drownings occur. As well as open water in the borough, with many families going abroad and to UK coastlines for their summer holiday, understanding how to stay safe in the water lets everyone have a great time and come home safely. Sadly, each year several young people die in water incidents across the UK, in the sea, rivers, quarries, and lakes. Young men aged between 15 to 24 years old are the group most at risk, with men accounting for 83 percent of all fatalities. Since 2018, the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service has rescued 148 people from the water. The National Fire Chief Council revealed that 46 percent of accidental drownings in 2022 took place in June, July, and August. Recreational activities accounted for 58 percent of accidental fatalities. Over the coming weeks, we are highlighting what the dangers are if you get into open bodies of water, what we are doing to make waterways safer, and how you can educate your children on water safety in our wonderful borough and on holiday.

Community Wardens working hard to support water safety Local authority Community Wardens are once again including open bodies of water as part of their patrols this summer, to support water safety. The team, who are all first aid trained, will also be carrying throw lines which can be used to help anyone they spot in trouble in the water. Wardens will also be speaking with people they see in the water about the risks, as well as responding to any reports of people jumping off bridges into rivers. We will also be working with our partners, the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Thames Valley Police, to educate those going into any water. During hot weather the wardens are inspecting all the safety equipment including life buoys, to make sure they are in good condition and ready to be used in an emergency. The riverbanks and edges of open bodies of water are surveyed to remove anything which could encourage people to go into the water. The wardens have already removed a rope swing and an abandoned kayak so people are not tempted to use them to get into the water.

But I’m a good swimmer…. Whether you’re a good swimmer or not, it’s often the low temperature of open water which leads to tragedy. It’s as simple as the water is just too cold. Even on days when the air temperature rises above 30 degrees Celsius, or there is a heatwave, the water remains cold enough to kill. Open bodies of water are around 15 degrees Celsius or lower in the summer. Those temperatures are significantly lower than public swimming pools where the average temperature is around 25-28 degrees Celsius. This is around 10 degrees cooler than the average body temperature. And for context the average bath is around 32 to 40 degrees Celsius. This is why your body instinctively reacts if you jump into such cold water.This is called cold water shock. Cold water shock is lethal The cold literally takes your breath away and makes you gasp within seconds of getting in. This involuntary action quickens breaths and can allow water to get into the mouth and lungs. It can take as little as half a pint of water to lead to drowning. Cold water shock also causes the heart rate and blood pressure to quickly increase and can lead to cardiac arrest. Alternatively, the body tries to protect internal organs like the heart and brain by moving body heat to them from the arms and legs. As a result, it becomes difficult to move limbs which are needed to keep afloat. In the summer it is advisable to go to Leisure Focus pools for a swim where lifeguards are supervising in case anything goes wrong. More information on RBWM leisure centres is available on its website.