Saudi Arabia

275 Drowning Cases Recorded in Saudi Since the Start of 2023

The Red Crescent has recorded 275 reports of swimming pool drowning cases, within the past 7 months, in different regions of Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health (MoH) stated.

The highest number of drowning cases reports were in Makkah with 95 reports, followed by Riyadh with 54 reports, then Al-Sharqiyah with 31 reports, and Jazan with 23 reports.

The Ministry said that the reports recorded in Al-Qassim since the start of 2023 reached 20 reports, Madinah with 19 reports, Asir with 13 reports, Najran and Tabuk with 6 reports, Al-Baha with 4 reports, Hail with 3 reports, Al-Jouf with 1 report, while the Northern Border did not record any swimming pools reports.

MoH has warned families against negligence in dealing with children who do not have any experience to swim, which causes them to drown and then leads to a number of deaths and injuries. Children are the group most at risk of drowning, especially children and individuals who live near open water sources and swimming pools, the Ministry said.

Coinciding with these numbers of drowning reports, the Ministry has launched a campaign aimed at increasing the awareness of the community about the most important health tips during the summer period, the most important of which is the advice about swimming, especially since that drowning is considered as the third most important cause of death from accidents in the world.

In order to prevent drowning, the Ministry noted the importance of supervising and paying attention to children when swimming and ensuring that there is an adult close to them in the event of any drowning incident.

It is also necessary to teach children to swim from a young age, as well as to teach them methods of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), in addition to ensuring that children who do not know how to swim wear a life jacket to prevent drowning.

As for the means of protection at the pool itself, it is important to ensure that the pool area is free of stones, glass, sharp tools, or any tools that lead to slipping, as well as make sure that the pool is closed and not exposed.

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Source
Saudi Gazette

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