Death on the water: why more and more people are dying while swimming

IRINA MISHINA

Since the beginning of the bathing season in Seven people drowned in St. Petersburg, and among them were two children. Seven more were rescued or assisted. This sad statistic is cited by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of St. Petersburg.

Drowning is the most common cause of death in June?

Fortunately, some of the «drowned» managed to be saved. A ten-year—old boy was pulled out of the Olginsky Pond by the search and rescue service staff — they noticed how he began to sink. After resuscitation, the child was hospitalized. A day later, on the same pond, the story was repeated with another child. And on the evening of June 18 in Oryol quarry in A man who came to Russia to work from Turkey drowned in St. Petersburg. Eyewitnesses say that he jumped into the Oryol Pond and did not come up.

June 17 at A 15-year-old teenager who came from St. Petersburg drowned in a pine forest. The children had a hike, the boy did not swim very well, but decided to swim with his comrades. According to preliminary information, he swam 20 meters from the shore and began to sink. One of his friends tried to save him, but could not.

And before that, two girls drowned in a pond in Nikolinsky Pond in Peterhof. They were 12 and 14 years old. Their family came to St. Petersburg from Central Asia.

In Tatarstan, 12 people died in reservoirs in May–June, two of them were children. The most common cause of these tragedies in the Ministry of Emergency Situations called bathing in a prohibited, not equipped place.

The cause of tragedies is hypothermia, cramps, convulsions, alcohol…

What's wrong with the current bathing season? With this question, we turned to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

«First of all, it is a loss of common sense. People die when they stop assessing the situation sensibly,» a spokesman for the Ministry of Emergency Situations told us.

As for the opening of the bathing season, as it turned out, it is no longer tied to any specific date.

«The boundaries of the bathing season are designated by the heads of local administrations,» the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations explained to us. — Based on his own internal criteria, the governor proclaims: «There should be a bathing season!». Of course, Rospotrebnadzor drives through reservoirs and looks at the presence of bacteria in the water. At some point, Rospotrebnadzor may detect an infection in the water somewhere, and then the governor says: «That's it, you can't swim anymore!».

But here, as usual, everyone opens the bathing season when he wants, contrary to warnings and prohibitions.

What is the most common cause of accidents lately?

Often parents lose their children at reservoirs. For example, on June 17, a woman turned to a rescue station after noticing the disappearance of a four-year-old child on Bolshaya Ozernaya Street. He was found on a playground nearby. In addition, on Sunday, June 18, a seven—year-old girl got lost on the Chudny beach — rescuers and volunteers were involved in the search, and a child was found in a contact zoo 2.5 kilometers from the place of disappearance.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations reminds that children should not be left unattended by the water. You also need to follow other rules: swim only in specially equipped places, do not swim up to ships, do not enter the water drunk, do not jump into the water and do not dive in unfamiliar places. Also, various kinds of games should not be allowed on the water, for example, jokingly «drown» people, use water transport in places for bathing.

There are especially many drowned people in May and June also because the water has not warmed up enough, the temperature drop has a negative effect on the body. For example, such statistics: only for four days from May 21 to May 24 in Three people drowned in Tatarstan. This is a seven-year-old girl, a 15-year-old teenager and a young guy of 18 years old.

«They died in Kazan, in Tukayevsky and Vysokogorsky districts. Despite the fact that the temperature outside reached 30 degrees Celsius, the water did not warm up. Such a sharp temperature drop can lead to hypothermia, spasms, convulsions and, as a result, to drowning, which is confirmed by recent events,» explained Yuri Venediktov, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan.

He also named bathing in forbidden places and alcohol intoxication among the causes of drowning.

«Bathing is incompatible with alcohol. Having taken alcohol, a person begins to perceive reality inadequately, which is unacceptable on the water. It is better to start swimming when the water temperature is not lower than 19-20 degrees. Stay in the water — no longer than 15-20 minutes. The danger of hypothermia in warm water still exists. Also, you can not go into the water immediately after severe overheating in the sun, this can lead to vascular spasm,» Dmitry Epshein, vice president of the Nurses Association, told NI.

«Pale drowning»

Meanwhile, the visits of «Ambulances» to the places of tragedies near the water are becoming more frequent.

«There are many reasons for drowning. Most often, a person has a cramp in the water. Some do not keep well on the water, but try to swim far, eventually drown. We must always count our strength, — says „NI“ ambulance doctor Sergei Senchukov. — In general, to avoid an accident, you do not need to swim in unfamiliar places, jump into the water. After overheating in the sun, the so-called „pale drowning“ often occurs, when a spasm of blood vessels occurs. With rapid entry into the water, reflex cardiac arrest often occurs. Often drownings began to occur as a result of the fact that the „leg cramps“, this happens when entering the water quickly.»

The question arises, what to do with the «drowned man» before the arrival of the Ambulance?

According to doctors, it is necessary to put a person on his stomach and try to free his lungs from water. If it succeeded, if necessary, perform artificial respiration.