Safety Map

New Years Day Drowning in Llandudno Sea

smadmin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:39:30 +0000

The beginning of 2012 brings in a harsh reminder of the dangers that exist all year round.

64 year old John Michael Dain from Conwy has drowned after going missing from his boat on New Year’s Eve.

On Sunday 1st an extensive search for Mr Dain, who was in a 20ft vessel described as a day boat had told coastguards by mobile phone that he was lost.

His body was found in West Shore, Llandudno just after 09:00 on New Years Day.

The Conwy inshore lifeboat had been launched on Saturday, which located the boat about a mile north of the shore. The search involved two lifeboats, coastguard shore teams and the North Wales Police helicopter.

Water Safety Map wishes you all the best in the new year and we will continue to work on our incidents map.

Cold Water

smadmin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:44:07 +0000

With Christmas just around the corner, a lot of us Brits are packing up our bags and heading off somewhere else. A lot of people escape the country to somewhere warmer, or more festive, but with the current state of the economic climate, a lot of us would rather stay in the United Kingdom and see family and friends, even if it’s just across the country for a few days.

This year the weathers not been so bad, this time last year we were covered in snow and ice and nobody wanted to go anywhere or do anything.

The adventurous type should remember to be careful though, an incident was recently submitted to Water Safety Map about a 22 year old rugby player who drowned after his kayak capsized because of strong winds.

At this time of year the weather can catch us all off guard, and even if it’s a few degrees warmer and not icy on the roads this year, the water is still bitterly cold and the weather can suddenly turn. Avoid any water sports without proper supervision!

Cars Crashing Submerged into Water – Difficulty of Escape

smadmin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:58:32 +0000

I saw by chance an episode of Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel over the weekend. The myth they were attempting to bust was about how difficult or otherwise it might be to escape from a car submerged in water. I felt that the programme was very well made, highlighting the very serious difficulties in escaping from a car in water in an accessible way to young people.

Useful links

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/6516-mythbusters-underwater-car-uncut-video.htm – Official Site

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode72 – Interesting comments

Episode on Youtube

Part 2

Part 3

Safety Precautions for Water Sports

smadmin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:59:35 +0000

This month, there was an incident where a canoeist fell into the water while canoeing at Pont Cyfyng Falls near Capel Curig. As shown by Water Safety Map’s incident list, this isn’t an isolated incident as people are involved with water sports all over the country. Accidents do happen, but following safety precautions can certainly help reduce the risk and make sure you’re as safe as you can be while on the water.

After doing some searching, here’s four valuable pointers if you’re going to be involved with a water sport:

1 — Always wear safety equipment like a life vest, and I strongly suggest a water helmet. No matter how strong of a swimmer you are things happen that are out of your control. A good, but frightening, example of this is the possibility of hitting your head on the boat/a log in the water/some of the equipment you’re using for your activities. You would then be disoriented, and no matter how long that happened for, it would be long enough for you to be in a very dangerous situation, unless you were wearing a water helmet and had a life vest on.

2 — Follow any posted regulations at your location. Even though you may assume you know better a lot of these regulations are posted by people who are aware of rare and unexpected weather conditions in the area that you may need to be careful around.

3 — Don’t drink alcohol before participating in water sports. This is something that can easily happen without much thought, who doesn’t enjoy a day of drinking by the lake? And that’s fine, unless you hop in. You need to be alert out on the water and drinking hinders that.

4 — Never, ever go out on the water and participate in sports unless you’re a strong swimmer. The current, especially when there are boats involved, is very strong. If you don’t know how to swim things could be very rough for you, make sure you know how to swim to avoid problems.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4715033

How to help someone who has drowned

smadmin — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:52:25 +0000

Usually, after a person has drowned, if they are recovered quickly it can appear as if they have already died, but quick action can save their life.

Call the emergency service immediately and wait for assistance, you should get advice over the phone on how to help the person who has drowned.

Handle him or her with extreme care, the person might have suffered spinal injury or, for instance a hypothermic person might experience ventricular fibrillation if jolted.
Check the persons airway, breathing and circulation. If you know how to, treat them with rescue breathing and/or CPR
Monitor and treat for hypothermia (see eHows on hypothermia).

Local MP Likes SafetyMap

smadmin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:48:22 +0000

Local MP Guto Bebb expressed his approval over the SafetyMap initiative during a recent event to highlight the good work been done with water safety awareness.

Paul Levy of Livetech explains the ideas behind SafetyMap from a technical perspective

More drowning Hotspots

smadmin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:21:34 +0000

It seems that wherever and whenever alcohol consumption and water are in close proximity there is a chance of a tradgedy. We recently reported on the town of Shresbury and another such location exists in Bath where a spate of drownings have occured within the student population.

According to the BBC

Naomi Mackrill, of the University of Bath Students’ Union, said: “We are encouraging students to plan in advance how they get home, to stay with their friends and behave responsibly.

Signs have been appearing along side the river, we can only applaud this awareness programme and the efforts of the students unions to ward students. The latest death was that of student James Bubear http://www.watersafetymap.co.uk/map/details/115

Shrewbury hotspot of alcohol related drowning in River Severn

smadmin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:25:15 +0000

Shewsbury continues to to be a very dangerous place to be if you have been out drinking with friends. We hope education can be the answer to this problem and also there have been local initiatives to encourage door staff in local clubs to ensure people are looking out for their friends. The latest incident can be viewed here http://www.watersafetymap.co.uk/map/details/103. There is also investment in cameras and fencing, which also may have an important part to play.

SafetyMap Featured on ITV News

smadmin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:40:32 +0000

The SafetyMap initiative has just been featured on ITV News. The article went into the history of Debbie’s work with schools and how the education work is being made available to thousands of more people through modern internet technology.

It is great to see SafetyMap getting this coverage and thanks to ITV for helping to raise awareness of water safety issues.

http://www.itv.com/wales/welsh-made-safety-map-pinpoints-dangerous-water-spots60128/

Boy Dies in Quarry during fine weather

smadmin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:23:02 +0000

Another report has come in regarding a fatality during the fine weather over the last few days. A 13 year old boy has drowned in a quarry in Whittle-le-Woods, near Preston in the North West.

Link:
http://www.watersafetymap.co.uk/map/details/80