Tourist Police Launch Beach Safety Campaign

[webfact]

Tourist Police launch beach safety campaign

The front of the handbill being distributed at Phuket beaches today.

Many foreign tourists have died in Phuket trying to fight a rip current

rather than exiting it by swimming parallel to the beach.

PHUKET: -- In an effort to minimize the number of drowning deaths in Phuket this monsoon season, the Tourist Police today began distribution of some 10,000 handbills warning beachgoers about the dangers of rip currents -- and what to do if caught in one.

Garry Halpin, a Tourist Police volunteer from New Zealand, told the Phuket Gazette that the handbills will be given out to people at beaches with the most drowning deaths.

These include Kata, Nai Harn, Patong and the deadliest of all: Karon.

The project, sponsored by Raya Divers, is the first of its kind in Phuket, he said.

The Tourist Police agreed with the idea, which was put forward by the volunteers after so many drowning deaths were recorded at Phuket beaches over the last monsoon season.

The English-language handbills explain clearly in pictures and in words how rip currents form and why it is imperative not to panic if caught up in one.

The best way out of a riptide is to swim parallel to the beach, not towards it, he said.

Remaining calm and not fighting waves and currents are the keys to survival, he added.

Asked if there had been any effort to get airline pilots to warn inbound tourists about the potential dangers of riptides, as has repeatedly been urged by the Phuket Gazette, Mr Halpin said he would pass it on to Tourist Police officers.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-06-22

[morrobay]

Another thing Raya Divers could do for water safety is to set up a fin rental system on the most dangerous beaches. And not dive fins, but Duck Feet brand.

A strong swimmer can get out of rips with or without fins but for an average swimmer fins can make the difference. Especially if the typical beach type rip that is diagramed above is very strong and wide.

And fins also can make the difference in the broader definition of a rip that includes outbound water that is caused by tidal , wind driven,

and any other type of current.

Edited June 24, 2011 by morrobay

[Atmos]

"The best way out of a riptide is to swim parallel to the beach, not towards it, he said."

Good advice if the person is a competent swimmer.

I would suggest that many people who require rescue, or drown, cannot swim more than a few strokes; have met so many people who say they like 'swimming' yet would not be able to do a single length of a 50m pool, let alone cope with the addition of a strong current, waves, and a mix of panic/fear.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Atmos