Let's Prevent Drowning Together

Increasing drowning cases in the summer season separate large numbers of citizens from their loved ones each year. It is key for citizens to be careful and cautious against drowning cases, especially during this period.

In which waters is it safer to swim?

First of all, you need to learn how to swim. You should prefer institutions that have corporate services, beaches and pools that have lifeguards to go swimming. Choose to swim in areas that are known and preferred by the community to be safe. Do not enter the water in unfamiliar waters and uninhabited areas.

Prefer the parts of lakes, ponds and dams where swimming is allowed, never enter the water where swimming is not allowed. Although the rip current seems low in streams, swimming in these areas can still be dangerous. Irrigation channels are not suitable areas for swimming and can have fatal consequences.

What to pay attention first when swimming?

• The most important factor in drowning is to panic. When the person gets into a panic he or she loses control and drowning becomes inevitable.
• Never push someone into the water unannounced, not even for a joke.
• While swimming, get out of the water as soon as you feel uncomfortable, even if it is minor.
• Do not go into the water when your stomach is full.
• No adult or child should go into the water with hydrophilic clothes.
• Do not jump into the water if you do not know its temperature or depth.
• Do not dive headfirst into the water if you have no idea how deep it is. Depths of less than 2 meters can cause spinal fractures, resulting in death.
• Do warm-up or stretching exercises before getting in the water.
• Helping drowning people can be dangerous if you are unfamiliar with rescue techniques. This could cause both people to drown.
• Do not swim in places where there is a strong rip current. If you get caught in the current, instead of fighting, you should immerse yourself facing the shore and swim parallel to the shore.

How to Rescue the Drowning Person

• People who know how to swim and who are trained should attempt a direct rescue to avoid the rescuer from being drowned.
• If the drowning person is nearby, the person should be reached by throwing a long stick, rope or 'life buoy' or tire attached to the rope.

If the drowning person is 15-20 meters away from the shore, 'Rescue by pulling with the lifesaving rope’

• A bag should be tied to the end of a long life saving rope, an object that does not sink in water (mushrooms, etc.) and a weight (stone, etc.) should be placed to ensure that the bag can be thrown away.
• The bag must be thrown so that the drowning patient can catch it.
• The rescuer must keep the rope steady and allow the drowning patient to approach the shore under the influence of the rip current.

If the Drowning Person Is Off Shore, What the Rescuer Should Do?

• He/she should take a safety buoy and swim and allow the drowning person to hold onto the buoy and swim back to the shore.
• When approaching the drowning person from behind, he/she should turn the drowning person's face upwards, grab his wrist or hair and pull him/her up.
• In order to pull the drowning person's mouth and nose out of the water, he/she must place the drowning person in the supine position on the water surface.
• The Rescuer must quickly pull the drowning person out of the water.
• As spinal injury may have occurred as a result of jumping into the water, the rescuer should not push the drowning person’s head back too much.  
• If possible, two people should carefully remove the drowning person, without twisting him/her.
• Vital signs should be evaluated.
• The rescuer should provide basic life support if needed. If possible, he/she should start artificial respiration in water. (May not be possible in deep waters.)
• The rescuer should seek medical attention immediately when they come ashore.
• Vital signs of the drowning person should be monitored.

Self-Recovery from Falling from Vehicles such as Canoes, Boats and Rafts

• The person who is in the boat alone and falls into the water should try to swim to shore by catching the oar and taking it to his/her armpit.

What Measures Can Be Taken Against the Danger of "Rip Current"?

The “rip current” causes hundreds of people to drown or die each year. The rip current, which is so strong that even professional swimmers cannot resist, threatens citizens in Türkiye, especially on the Black Sea coasts. 

What is a Rip Current?

The rip currents are very strong currents that move from shallow to deep water that are prevalent in regions where the seabed structure is in the form of “sand dune-clove-sand dune”.

Where and When is the Rip Current Occurs?

Rip currents are strong water flows that can be seen on the Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts. It is seen in windy, stormy and wavy weather. The higher the wave height, the stronger the rip current.

Why is the Rip Current Dangerous?

Contrary to popular rumors, these currents do not pull people to the deep. The rip current pushes people offshore. Drowning incidents may occur when people who realize that they are being pulled out of shallow waters, struggle to return to the shore in fear and panic. As a result, they become tired and unable to keep themselves on the water.

How Do We Detect the Rip Current?

There is a high risk of rip currents in that area;

• If the water color in a certain part of the sea is distinctly different from other regions.
• If there is an image of mixed and irregular water that continues along a channel.
• If there are foams regularly moving towards the sea.
• If the waves moving towards the shore are broken and irregular.

What should we do in order not to be caught in the rip current?

• Do not go swimming if it is sloppy.
• Prefer coasts and beaches that have lifeguards and medical staff.
• Keep your eyes on your children when they are in the water.
• Do have life-saving equipment such as life jackets and life buoys that will keep you on the surface of the sea for yourself and your children.
• Do not go swimming alone. Make sure to have someone on the beach with you having rescue equipment and good swimming skills as a guard.
• Make sure to enter the water with a swimming suit.

What should we do if we are caught in the rip current?

• If you are caught in a rip current, first of all try to stay calm.
• The rip current does not pull you under the water. It pulls you away from the shore.
• Do not tire yourself by trying to swim towards the beach. You cannot beat the current. Let the current pull you away for a while.
• As the rip current weakens, avoid the rip current by swimming sideways, not to the shore.
• Always try to stay on the water surface and raise your hand to ask for help.

How Should We Help When We See Someone Trapped by Rip Current?

• When you see someone raising their hand in the sea, know that this person needs help.
• Warning the person to remain calm, call the lifeguard immediately. If there is no lifeguard, you can help him/her by throwing equipment such as a life buoy or life saving rope.

Click for the rip current video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bx6Mejci04