Eight died around Welsh coast last year, says RNLI
EIGHT people lost their lives around the coast of Wales last year after becoming involved in “dangerous situations”.
The statistics released by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) reveal that of the eight who died in 2017, all were men and more than half of those who lost their lives did not intend to enter the water, and had fallen or been swept into the sea.
While this is reduction from the numbers who died in 2016, which saw 12 fatalities, the RNLI said more people who find themselves in the water should take heed of its advice.
On a national level, 109 people died from accidents or natural causes in UK tidal waters in 2017. The previous year there were 156 fatalities and the year before that there were 180 fatalities.
Of the 2017 fatalities, 32% of deaths were related to walking and running near the coast, 20% were related to swimming, jumping in and general leisure use of the water, 7% related to commercial use of the water, 10% related to sailing and boating and 4% to unknown activity.
As part of their Respect the Water campaign, the RNLI is urging members of the public who find themselves in the water to focus on floating instead of swimming.
Referring to the Float to Live message, an RNLI spokesperson said: “The charity is urging anyone who finds themselves in trouble in cold water to stay calm and ‘float’. The instinctive human reaction on immersion in cold water is a potential killer: it can cause panic and thrashing around, increasing the chances of breathing in water. This also lets trapped air escape from clothing, reducing buoyancy.
“Although it’s counter intuitive, floating rather than swimming, will keep the airway clear and allow you to regain control of your breathing. You can then swim to safety, call for help, or continue to float until help arrives.
“Professor Mike Tipton, the UK’s leading cold water survival expert, and the RNLI found that in recent trials of 80 people, most found floating easier than expected.”