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“All the rules are not only made for you, they are written by experience. Also, unfortunately, in blood,” says Juras Kilijonas, who works as a rescue worker in Palanga.
Many parents do not know this, but inflatable safety equipment is not suitable for swimming in the Baltic Sea because it presents a relatively high risk.
“A child in an inflatable vest becomes a light buoy. Parents think they are using protective pups, but the opposite is true: the baby can easily catch the current and carry it very far.
And then an unreliable rubber product heats up and explodes in the sun – the child begins to drown not on the shore, but where it does not reach the ground. Such an incident could end tragically, “warns the rescuer.
Photo by Ernesta Čičiurkaitė / 15min / Weekend on the beach of Palanga
According to J. Kilijonas, parents who want to protect their little ones should not buy inflatable life jackets, which are seaworthy and certified. Such vests would not explode due to the heat of the sun, and children who wore them would be adequately protected and would not even drown in the sea.
Learn to behave when you are lost
No less dangerous is leaving children unattended. Rescuers deal with stray babies every day and have tips on how to avoid added stress.
According to J. Kilijonas, parents should deliberately teach their little ones what to do if they accidentally get lost on the beach. In this case, it is best to contact the nearest lifeguard cabin. The specialists who work there will introduce the child through loudspeakers and help him to return to his relatives.
According to the rescuer, to avoid a disaster, the parents on the beach should not be far from the children, always at a safe distance.
“Sometimes when we patrol, we see children bathing alone, we ask them where the parents are and they point to somewhere in the distance, there it is. We take them to them and the parents explain that even from the dunes they supposedly see the children and They watch them bathe. However, they do not understand that the sea is such a thing where there are many strong underwater currents, if what happens, parents could only see their children from the dunes as the waves carry them to the sea, it is a matter of seconds, ”says the rescuer.
Photo by Ernesta Čičiurkaitė / 15min / Weekend on the beach of Palanga
The rules are not just for you
Year after year, rescuers by the sea remind vacationers that children cannot be left unattended.
“Children are very active, energetic, they run fast. Parents do not have time to see them, especially grandmothers. There have been cases where the grandmother barely managed to turn around and the granddaughter was already fleeing further when she caught the ball We had to search for a long time, even when we found out, the boy was so confused that he did not even remember his name, “says J. Kilijonas about the dangers that lie ahead.
According to the rescuer, to disaster in this case – one step. Neglected children enter the water where the waves can vanish, a young child can drown even when the water barely reaches an adult’s knees.
Photo by Ernesta Čičiurkaitė / 15min / Weekend on the beach of Palanga
Working rescuers make sure people behave responsibly, but tourists must repeat the simplest safety rules all the time.
“For some reason, people believe that nothing bad can happen to them, that they cannot drown, that their children are not in danger from the sea. However, this is not the case. Without protecting children, it can have extremely painful consequences ”, emphasizes the rescuer.
Get angry
Jonas Pirožnikas, the commander of the Palanga rescuers, laments that when he tells his parents about the abandonment of their children, or when they bring a lost baby, they often feel a wave of anger instead of gratitude.
Photo by Luke April / 15min / Jonas Pirožnikas
“Our job is to do everything possible so that children do not drown before they start to drown. We take all preventive measures, so we explain to parents that children cannot be left unattended.
However, instead of giving thanks, we often have a wave of anger: Parents send a stranger to try to protect their child. I believe that such abandonment of children should be a concern for specialists in children’s rights ”, the rescuer is convinced.
This summer, 64 rescuers are working on the beaches of Palanga and Šventoji. Rescue teams have already had to lift at least 14 drowning people out of the water.
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