Nghe An strengthens a series of measures to prevent drowning

On July 1, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued a telegram on strengthening drowning prevention and control in the province.

From April 1 to now, the whole province has had 21 drowning accidents, killing 25 people. According to the Provincial People's Committee, the above situation occurred due to subjective reasons such as the heads of some units and localities not regularly paying attention to directing, not doing a good job of inspecting and supervising the implementation, so the effectiveness is still limited; Coordination in propaganda, mobilization, warning of dangers to people, especially children, is not regular and continuous, the content and methods have not had many suitable innovations.

Meanwhile, the security forces, performing rescue and relief tasks in areas where people gather to bathe, have not been arranged or have been arranged but are too few compared to the requirements; Schools and families are still not closely monitoring students and their children; People's awareness and consciousness of the dangers and self-protection in the water environment are not high...

A drowning rescue drill. Photo: Archive

In the coming time, the weather in the province will continue to be hot and sunny, besides, entering the summer vacation period of students, many rivers and lakes continue to attract both adults and children to swim, however, warnings of dangers have not been fully covered; teaching swimming to students and children has not been fully implemented, so there is still a high risk of drowning accidents.

In the face of the above situation, the Provincial People's Committee requests provincial departments, branches, sectors, and organizations, and People's Committees of districts, cities, and towns to enhance the effectiveness of leadership, promote the role and responsibility of heads and heads of units in directing the implementation of drowning prevention and control. Heads of units must regularly inspect and urge the implementation in the areas and fields under their responsibility; periodically or suddenly, they must directly inspect routes, areas, and locations with high risks of drowning accidents to promptly direct correction and remediation.

The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is responsible for regularly urging and guiding departments, branches, and People's Committees of districts, cities, and towns to strictly implement the direction of the Central Government, the Government, and the Provincial People's Committee on the prevention and control of child drowning. Establish inspection teams to suddenly supervise the implementation of drowning prevention and control in localities, focusing on localities with many child drowning accidents or serious drowning accidents.

If necessary, the Provincial People's Committee can advise the Provincial People's Committee to establish interdisciplinary teams to inspect, guide and comprehensively rectify the work of preventing and combating child drowning accidents in key localities. Regularly review and summarize the implementation results of units and localities; at the same time, promptly advise and propose to the Provincial People's Committee effective measures to prevent and combat child drowning.

Children playing on Pha Lai dam. Photo: Tien Hung

The Provincial People's Committee requested the Provincial Police to preside over and coordinate with relevant units to organize a general review, conduct basic investigations, and make a specific list of dangerous locations and positions at risk of drowning accidents (beaches, swimming beaches, rivers, lakes, ponds, wells, deep holes with water, deep and dangerous water areas, water storage structures, etc.).

On that basis, coordinate with relevant agencies and units to carry out preventive measures appropriate to the specific situation and conditions of the locality (some specific measures such as: building barriers, warning signs, prohibition signs, sentry signs, setting up guard posts, organizing quick response forces at beaches...).

At the same time, regularly inspect, review, promptly detect, prevent and resolutely suspend spontaneous ferry piers and inland waterway vehicles that do not ensure operating conditions according to regulations, in order to prevent traffic accidents on waterways and drowning. Strictly maintain a 24/7 standby regime, ensuring readiness of forces and vehicles to promptly participate in rescue when drowning incidents occur.

Regularly organize training courses on professional skills in rescue to improve the capacity of officers, soldiers and other related forces (grassroots fire fighting force, civil defense force...) to proactively respond promptly when situations and incidents of drowning accidents occur.

Teaching children to swim. Photo archive.

The Department of Education and Training is responsible for directing educational institutions to include warnings about the risk of drowning; skills to prevent and combat drowning accidents and first aid skills for drowning victims in the curriculum to raise awareness of self-prevention for students, especially at primary and secondary school levels. Strengthen propaganda and education through bulletin boards, banners, slogans, seminars, flag-raising activities and class meetings, coordinate with parents' associations and organizations to strengthen propaganda and education management for students on drowning prevention and combat... Organize training to improve swimming teaching skills for key physical education teachers, on that basis direct the Departments of Education and Training and educational institutions to organize training for 100% of physical education teachers in the province.

The Department of Culture and Sports is assigned to preside over and coordinate with relevant units to direct the organization and launch of a mass movement to practice swimming to prevent drowning in the whole province; including researching, building and replicating models such as: "Children in the whole commune know how to swim", "Students in the whole school know how to swim" in primary schools, secondary schools and commune-level units. Strengthen the management of swimming pools, water playgrounds and swimming teaching activities for children; mobilize socialization to build swimming pools and teach swimming, especially in remote areas. Coordinate and guide localities to establish and maintain the operation of rescue teams at swimming pools, wharves, beaches and entertainment areas.

The Provincial Youth Union is responsible for directing the Youth Union at all levels to implement a number of Youth Union movement activities to contribute to the prevention and reduction of accidents and drowning such as: building barriers, warning signs, prohibition signs, warning signs, arranging life buoys, and rescue in areas and locations with high risk of drowning. Research and include the content of drowning accident prevention in the annual summer volunteer action program (starting from 2022) to mobilize district and commune-level Youth Union members to participate in voluntary guarding activities at eco-tourism areas, beaches, rivers, streams, waterfalls, and streams with many tourists and residents.

Weather forecast in Nghe An is that the hot weather will continue. Photo: Tien Hung

The Department of Information and Communications, the Provincial Radio and Television Station, and Nghe An Newspaper will coordinate with relevant units to promote propaganda, dissemination, and legal education related to drowning prevention and control; regularly broadcast news and articles warning of the risk of accidents and drowning during the hot season; recommend the implementation of safety measures when participating in swimming in the sea during the tourist season... on mass media.

The Department of Transport tightens the licensing of inland waterway ports and waterway vehicles, focusing on conditions to ensure passenger transport services on rivers. Conduct inspections and strictly handle violations of regulations; at the same time, combine propaganda, mobilization, and legal education, requiring vehicle owners to strictly comply with regulations to ensure safety during business and transportation.

The People's Committees of districts, cities and towns are responsible for developing plans for drowning prevention and control in their localities to ensure they are suitable to the actual situation; assigning responsibilities to departments, offices and localities in implementing solutions to prevent drowning accidents in their localities, including assigning specific tasks to implement solutions for each area and location at risk of drowning accidents based on the review list of the police force.

Direct the Department of Culture and Information, People's Committees of communes, wards and towns to closely coordinate with the commune-level police force to review and make a list of areas and locations where drowning accidents frequently occur or are at high risk of drowning accidents, including drainage systems at construction sites, traffic works, rivers, ponds, lakes, dangerous deep water areas... to proactively warn, prevent, ensure safety against drowning; at the same time, propose to purchase and supplement equipment and means for rescue, rescue, and drowning prevention in accordance with local conditions and actual situations.

People's Committees of communes, wards and towns, and mass organizations regularly and effectively carry out propaganda work on drowning prevention and control; focusing on propaganda through the loudspeaker system in communes, wards, towns, villages, hamlets and villages; visual propaganda through a system of banners, slogans, billboards, posters, leaflets, warning signs... Propaganda content needs to focus on: Announcing information about drowning accidents in water, in Nghe An province, consequences and causes (collecting information through mass media); warning specific locations and positions at risk of accidents and drowning; disseminating legal knowledge and skills on drowning prevention and control for children to parents, children, students and the community...

The District Department of Culture and Information presides over and coordinates with the People's Committees of communes, wards and towns to develop content and programs to guide and teach swimming, rescue and first aid skills for drowning for people (especially those living around areas at risk of drowning accidents) and local forces... to participate in drowning rescue when requested; organize swimming lessons for children in the management area.

In particular, for areas where tourists and people often participate in underwater activities (eco-tourism areas, beaches, rivers, streams, waterfalls, creeks, etc.), it is necessary to study and mobilize self-management forces for security and order at the grassroots level (civil defense forces, grassroots fire prevention forces, etc.) or launch a movement of summer volunteer youth groups to perform the task of standing guard at high-risk locations to prevent, promptly detect and respond to drowning cases. In urgent cases, it is necessary to arrange a team of rescue workers to perform the task of preventing and combating drowning.

Establish inspection teams at district and commune levels to inspect and supervise the implementation of drowning prevention measures in localities, including direct inspections at areas and locations at risk of drowning accidents to record implementation results and promptly make corrections, requiring the implementation of appropriate and effective drowning prevention solutions.

In case a unit or locality allows the drowning accident situation to become complicated or cause serious consequences, the Provincial People's Committee will consider the responsibility of the relevant collectives and individuals in fully implementing the contents and measures to prevent and combat drowning.

Tien Hung