Heatwave Swimming Tragedies in England
The recent period of record-breaking hot weather, coinciding with the May Bank Holiday and school half-term, has resulted in nine fatalities in England due to difficulties encountered while swimming in lakes and rivers.
Many of those who died were young, including two teenage boys involved in incidents in Yorkshire.
What causes these tragedies during heatwaves, and how can they be prevented?
Open Water Swimming Risks
Steve Cavallo, an RNLI volunteer from Pontefract, attributes these incidents often to the novelty of open water swimming.
"Unfortunately, being in a country that doesn't particularly get a lot of hot weather, as soon as we do get something warm, the temptation is there to jump in any body of water, whether it be coastal or inland rivers and lakes,"
"We do get these incidents every year and we're trying to educate people to try to prevent this happening."
Cavallo notes that many reservoirs and lakes, especially those in former industrial sites such as quarries, contain hidden hazards that can trap swimmers.
"You don't know what objects are below the surface. Unfortunately people throw stuff in rivers and lakes that shouldn't be there. It's easy to get caught up in that sort of thing."
On Monday, a 13-year-old boy, locally named as Reco Puttock, was pronounced dead after being pulled from Leadbeater Dam in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
In Rother Valley Country Park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the body of a teenage boy was recovered from a lake.
'The Water Doesn't Warm Up'
Ashley Jones, head of water safety and education at the Royal Life Saving Society, explains why jumping into cold lakes can be fatal despite warm air temperatures.
"Even though the air has warmed up – and it's warmed up really quickly (this week) – the water doesn't warm up. So it's absolutely crucial that when we get into the water, we get in slowly,"
"If you were to run, jump or dive in, the first response you get is a gasp. And that big, sharp intake of air is really dangerous if there's water there. So if you're in the water and you gasp that can start the drowning process."
Jones adds that the next physiological response is a marked increase in heart rate.
"Our heart rate goes up and our breathing goes up. And that can make us panic, and if we panic and we're splashing around that can combine to cause us to inhale and start the drowning process,"
Georgia Beardmore from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents states that most accidental drownings occur at inland locations rather than coastal areas.
"There are lots of different types of inland water location and they all present very different hazards,"
"So inland locations like reservoirs, canals and quarry lakes, you've got lots of man-made machinery that might be hidden beneath the surface. Also inland water locations might potentially be a little bit more remote than beach-side locations.
"A hazard that's consistent across all open water locations, whether that's inland or the sea and particularly at this time of year, is the fact the water is extremely cold, dangerously cold in fact,"
Beardmore notes this is a trend many people find surprising.
"Everyone thinks about danger at the seaside. They don't necessarily think about danger in open water,"
Cavallo, formerly based at Spurn Point lifeboat station, believes the higher number of deaths inland is due to a lack of education.
"People aren't brought up around the water like coastal people are,"
"We have an education team and a water safety team and we get out to schools, colleges, watersports clubs and paddleboard clubs just to get this message out across all age groups - and the younger we do this the better, because it just becomes second nature."
'Remain Calm'
Another risk factor is the "hero" rescue attempt. On Monday in Cornwall, a man in his 60s suffered a cardiac arrest after entering the sea at Tregirls Beach to assist two family members, who were rescued by others.
"So many times the rescuer becomes the rescuee,"
Cavallo states.
Beardmore explains that while it is instinctive to jump in to help, especially if the person in trouble is a loved one, the hazards are often unknown.
"You don't know why that person's in trouble,"
"You don't know what hazards are in there and if someone is to get in that can often lead to multiple people being in difficulty,"
Andrew Black, a volunteer at York Rescue Boat, advises the best approach is to "reach and throw" rather than enter the water.
"In York, we're quite lucky now we've got some new street furniture that's just been added that has throw lines and reach rescue poles at the waterside,"
"If there's nothing suitable, you could be looking for a branch, it could be anything. You could tie some towels together and try to get to them that way.
"But the most important thing is to try and stay calm yourself as that will help the person in the water to stay calm and encourage them to think about floating and trying to keep their head tilted back and remain calm while you wait for help to arrive."
Beardmore advises those in the water to float and use emergency equipment if possible.
"Float on your back with your ears under the water, get control of your breathing, try and get calm and move your arms and legs if that helps you to stay afloat.
"Don't worry if your legs sink, everybody does float a bit differently and then once you've got control of your breathing again you can shout for help or swim to safety."
Black adds the importance of tilting the head back and remaining calm.
"It's obviously easy to say and very hard to do, but try and relax and slow your breathing down, which will then control your heart rate and give your body a chance to adjust to the cold water.
"And then you should, if you're able to stay calm sufficiently, you should be able to then start to slowly move your arms and legs and perhaps swim to the side or at least call for help."
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