Team hands out river safety tips
Taplow: Firefighters give life-saving advice to the public
Firefighters stressed the message of staying safe in and near to the water by holding a safety briefing with residents and passersby in Taplow on Tuesday.
This has been a tragic year for water-related deaths, with three under-18s losing their lives in the East Berkshire and South Bucks area.
On Tuesday, firefighters from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and officers from Thames Valley Police held a safety session in River Road, Taplow.
Neil Whiteman, safety education co-ordinator at RBFRS, told the Advertiser the water rescue crew had been conducting drills on the river, as well as providing advice to residents who live by the river and passers-by who may walk down the road.
Residents should call 999 as soon as somebody in the water gets into trouble, allowing the nearest fire crew to reach the scene as quickly as possible.
“It’s very important [for residents to know what to do] because they’re probably going to be the first people who find out as they’ll hear somebody shouting out there,” said Neil.
“When somebody’s splashing about, they’ve most likely got cold water shock; when you first immerse in, the water temperature is a lot lower than the air temperature, so your body goes into a spasm.
“If you can get that person
to try and calm down and float to survive (like the shape of a starfish), within 90 seconds the cold water shock has passed, and what happens then is you can encourage them to try and swim to the side.”
The hotter temperatures of the summer have seen the effects of cold water shock amplified due to the greater differences between the air and water temperatures.
Neil said this 16 degrees
Celsius change in temperature can affect ‘even the fittest swimmers’, alongside the hidden dangers of fastmoving currents under the surface and rubbish dumped into the river.
He advised those who want to enjoy the water to look into their nearest open water swimming groups.
“The open water swimming groups know exactly where to go swimming,” he said.
“They can give you simple advice like wearing a fluorescent hat; if you’re swimming in the river, and boaters are coming up and down, what’s the difference between somebody’s head and a duck?
“We want people to enjoy the water – we’re not saying ‘don’t do it’, we’re saying ‘if you’re going to do this, please take extra care.”