In our state, the security of citizens is given great importance. The implementation of the requirements of the Directive of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 1 of March 11, 2004 “On measures to strengthen public safety and discipline” is in the focus of attention of the vertical of power, each labor collective, managers of all ranks. By Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 420 of October 12, 2015, this Directive is set out in a new edition and supplemented in many security positions.
One of the components of the general safety of the country’s population is safety on the waters.
For reference: According to OSVOD operational data, 65 people, including 4 minors, have died from drowning in the Republic of Belarus since the beginning of 2022. Of the total number of drowned (65 people), 24 (36.93%) people were in a state of alcoholic (narcotic) intoxication.
The Minsk region is rich in water resources and ranks second in terms of the number of reservoirs and watercourses among the regions of the Republic of Belarus, second only to the Vitebsk region. 594 small rivers and 531 streams with a total length of over 10 thousand km flow through the territory of the Minsk region. The rivers Neman, Berezina, Vilia, Ptich and Svisloch belong to the category of large and medium rivers.
There are large lakes in the region – Naroch, Selyava, Myastro, Svir, Batorino, Rudakovo. Extensive reservoirs – Vileyskoye, Krasnoslobodskoye, Lyubanskoye, Soligorskoye, Pleshchenitskoye, Loshanskoye, Petrovichskoye, hundreds of large and small reservoirs.
There are also many quarries, both industrial, developed and decommissioned. Part of the territory of the region is covered with swamps, reclamation channels, technical reservoirs.
Water resources contribute to the creation and maintenance of favorable conditions for life, work and recreation of people. However, it must always be remembered that water is at the same time a source of danger and it annually takes the lives of those people who forget to observe basic safety measures. In the 90s of the last century, the beginning of the 2000s, the number of deaths on the waters in the republic reached two thousand, and in the regions up to 300 per year.
As a result of attention to this problem, active work on the implementation of the provisions of existing regulatory documents, the number of accidents on the waters has been significantly reduced in recent years.
Thus, in 2021, the state statistics bodies registered 518 drowned people in the Republic of Belarus (41 of them minors), 92 people in the Minsk region (5 of them minors).
In general, the situation in the Minsk region looks like this – 61 people out of the total number of drowned fall during the bathing season, i.e. in May-September.
For reference: In five years, 26 minors have drowned in the reservoirs of the Gomel region. We managed to prevent more than 900 accidents, 114 of them involving children and teenagers.
The number of accidents with people on the waters increases sharply during the hot days of the summer period, as citizens massively visit rivers, lakes, reservoirs and other water bodies.
The main causes of accidents on the water continue to be:
– violations of personal safety measures and, first of all, being in the water under the influence of alcohol, swimming and bathing in unfamiliar and not intended for this purpose places;
– inability to swim;
– insufficient control of parents and adults over children;
– bouts of illness and other causes.
In order to avoid an accident, it is necessary to strictly observe the safety measures defined in the Rules for the Protection of Human Life on the Waters of the Republic of Belarus, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 1623 of 11.12.2009.
First. Swim and swim only in designated and proven places for this.
Currently, there are 43 official beaches in the Gomel region, in other regions this number is higher. So, in the Minsk region this year 993 zones of mass recreation of the population on water bodies have been identified.
Bathing is prescribed only in places determined by the decision of the executive committees. For these places, areas of mass recreation of the population on water bodies, organizations are assigned, the heads of which are responsible for their equipment for recreation, maintenance, and safety of vacationers.
The opening of all beaches was carried out only after the bottom of the water areas was examined by the OSVOD divers for the absence of dangerous objects, as well as checking them for readiness.
Second. You should never enter the water in a drunken state. A drunk person cannot adequately assess the danger, because his reflexes are slowed down, and he is a threat not only to himself, but also to others. According to statistics, 60% of those who drowned in the republic last year were under the influence of alcohol.
The third. The rule of collective security is mutual control. The whole vacationing company enters the water together and leaves the water together, paying special attention to children. It is necessary to closely monitor 4 friends and relatives, if necessary, to help them. And ideally, at least one person from the vacationing company should stay on the shore to monitor the swimmers. With us, it’s like this: when a drowning occurred, often the companions do not even notice the loss of their comrade and cannot explain where he went.
Example: When on the pond d . The new Vestka of the Stolbtsovsky district, a vacation companion disappeared, no one could say anything intelligible – when, where, why he disappeared.
Fourth. The rules for the protection of human life on the waters prohibit the use of inflatable objects (mattresses, car cameras) for swimming, all kinds of homemade swimming equipment, including boards, logs and more.
Fifth. Any pampering is dangerous in the water. You can’t even jokingly grab and drag someone to the depths, hold them under water by force. Disputes over the distance of the swim and the duration of stay under water can lead to an accident. Confirmation of this is a swim for a dispute between young people in June 2021, they say, who will swim across the river faster. Bird. One failed, the water took him away.
It is forbidden to give false alarms and assistance, because next time no one will believe in their reality.
Sixth. It is impossible to dive from structures that are not intended for this purpose and in places that are not tested for this, since you can be injured and even die by hitting objects or the ground under water. Similar cases have taken place in the reservoirs of the region. So, in 2010, despite the warnings of rescuers, a 19-year-old Borisov resident jumped into the river in an unsuitable place for this, was injured and became disabled. In 2013, during night jumps in the Berezina River, the 20-year-old head of the family drowned from a pedestrian bridge. In May 2017, a 13-year-old schoolboy drowned in the Berezinsky district, who fell off the so-called “bungee” designed for jumping into the water. In July 2017, a company of young people rested in the Berezinsky district on the Berezina River. A 25-year-old young man, a resident of the village of Lesnoye, Minsk district, in a state of alcoholic intoxication, dived from the shore into the river in an unequipped place for bathing, received injuries incompatible with life and drowned. June 5 , 2019 in Lyubansky district in the village of A 17-year-old boy drowned while diving from the shore into a reclamation channel.
In the healthcare institutions of the Minsk region, during each summer bathing season, many cases of compression fractures of the cervical and thoracic spine, closed craniocerebral injuries sustained as a result of diving are registered by vacationers. 5
Seventh. You can not swim behind the buoys, that is, leave the safe bathing area. It is forbidden to climb technical and warning signs, buoys and other objects.
Eighth. It is reasonable to organize bathing in sunny, windless weather at a water temperature of + 18-200C, air + 20- 250C. If you can’t swim, you can’t go into the water above the waist. Being in the water, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime of your body. Entering and jumping into the water in a heated and excited state often lead to accidents, because due to a sharp drop in temperature, vascular spasms occur, including the brain and heart. This is especially dangerous for people who are hot with alcoholic beverages, as well as on hot days when the air temperature is above 300C, and the water in the reservoir is still cold. This was the reason for the death of many people resting by the water in the abnormally hot summer time. Just one example: a resident of Minsk on Purpose, when she became ill, went into the water to refresh herself, lost her balance and fell into the water. Even rescuers who arrived 1.5 minutes later could not help her. Forensic experts have long puzzled over who to classify her as drowned or suddenly dead. And the depth was only 70 cm.
You should enter the water gradually, getting used to its temperature. Prolonged exposure to water is also dangerous for health, especially for children. If you stay in cool water for a long time, muscle cramps and, as a result, an accident are possible. It is undesirable to bathe earlier than 1.5-2 hours after a heavy meal.
The ninth. Every life is valuable, but special attention should be paid to preventing the death of children in the water. Surveys conducted in educational institutions, as well as the sad facts that have taken place, show that many children, including graduates of schools, gymnasiums and lyceums, do not have swimming skills. The ability to swim is the basis of being safe in the water. In solving this problem, an important role belongs not only to preschool institutions and educational institutions, sports sections, but also to parents. Parents have the opportunity and are obliged to teach their child to swim.
It is impossible to ignore the issue of the death of children in the water by the oversight of adults. So, in 2013, a 12-year-old girl drowned in Borisov. Many of you remember the death on March 11, 2013 in the Neman river of a seven-year-old resident of the city of Columns. The boy’s body has still not been found. In 2021, there were also tragedies with children on the water in the Minsk region – 5 minors drowned.