Thousands of people are already flocking to the seashore: be careful, it is better not to go to the beach during these hours.

Both the commander of the Palanga rescue station, Jonas Pirožnikas, and the deputy director of Klaipedos Beaches, Aleksandras Siakki Delphi He recounted the most important necessary safety requirements for vacationers and recalled the most dangerous and curious situations that happened on the beach.

How to feel safe?

“Tourists with health problems or chronic illnesses are not recommended to go to the beach during the high season, from 11 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. Then the sun is the hottest and most dangerous. Especially during so hot ”, stressed the two interlocutors who have worked in the rescue service for more than a decade.

They urged vacationers to bring as much drinking water to the beach as possible, to take care of headgear: hats, hats, scarves, sunscreen, or to bring special umbrellas.

“I always urge vacationers to bring water, not sweet drinks or alcohol. I remind you that it is forbidden to drink alcohol on the beach, so rescuers who see people not drinking in the cafe but by the sea and, God forbid, they are very drunk, they can ask to leave the beach. If vacationers do not obey, the police are called and the vacationer faces an administrative fine. I also remind you that the officers are also patrolling the beach ”, emphasized A. Siakki.

When swimming, rescue specialists advise watching for signs.

“If you see the sign: ‘Pit’, do not swim there, but go to the side. Wells are especially dangerous for children or when the sea is wavy. It happens that a person bathes, jumps on the waves and the current of the The sea gradually takes it to one side or the other. It is possible that in 20 minutes a person will be 50 meters from the side of their original bathing place. After bathing in the waves, you go ashore and suddenly fall into a well, you drink water and panic, bite, use all your strength …
Tip: don’t be afraid, the hole is usually 2-3 meters in diameter, you can easily cross it “, explains J. Pirožnikas.

He said it was also important to be careful in the sunlight.

“There are a lot of sunstrokes and burns on the skin during the summer. Believe in how much rescuers take care of it. For us, it’s every day. People unconsciously fall asleep and when they wake up they see that one side has been burned. And stay sleeping without a helmet is completely dangerous ”, J. Pirožnikas shared the observations of his many years of experience.

“Sea drunk – on your knees”

According to rescuers, most of the work and curiosity occurs when vacationers have consumed alcohol.

“Two glasses of beer are enough for the sun and a person frowns, it is difficult to orient oneself in the environment.
So, as I say, for a tourist like that, “the sea is knee deep.” We rescuers, when we see a drunk vacationer, we say to ourselves, “This is our client.” As a rule, they tend to drown. He underestimates their strength, nothing further and finally has to rescue them. When we see that people are distracted, we kindly warn them not to swim if they don’t listen, we are forced to call the police, ”said J. Pirožnikas.

According to him, there are also those who do not even turn away from the huge amount of alcohol, but instead crawl into the sea in four.

“There are many situations of curiosity. When later you take out a drowned and intoxicated person and ask him:” What drunk did he put in the water? “Absurd. After these cases, they are in resuscitation instead of at home,” he said. J. Pirožnikas.

When asked if there were such cases this year when I had to call the police, J. Pirožnikas replied: “There were definitely none. After the quarantine and stay-at-home restrictions, vacationers have become very sharp, angry, and irritable. I try to give friendly advice and they respond very rudely. Similarly, “what have you bought the sea, what do you explain here” or “I will go and maudysious, I am responsible for myself, I will write a note for myself”. People still lack benevolence and understanding, “said the Palanga Rescue Commander.

Mr. Siakki points out that those who do not swim rather than those who swim fairly well are more likely to drown in the sea.

“Fresh from other cities and towns where there is no sea, and are used to swimming in a lake, pond or other flat body of water, when they catch the current of the sea, they start to panic, they run out of strength and they start to drown . If the current of the sea catches, there is no need to resist it, but to swim downstream for a while and only then, when the current is no longer running, swim to the side, ”explained A. Siakki.

Curious situations

Among the most familiar curious situations, rescuers note that a man tells his wife or another half that he is going for a swim and eventually disappears.

“Yes, the husband goes out to swim, the wife sees him in the sea and simply turns around, the latter disappears. Then he stands up all his family, friends, lifeguards, there is an intense search throughout the beach, and finally after an hour we see that the man has a beer calmly at the bar. There are hundreds of such cases ”, smiles J. Pirožnikas.

According to him, it is also common with children for a mother to say: “A second ago I saw my son, he was wandering in the sea and suddenly he disappeared. He’s probably drowned. “Finally, we found that child 2-3 miles away. Even yesterday in Palanga there was a situation where a four-year-old boy and a mother from Vilnius disappeared and we hurried to search. Finally, that The boy found himself on the Palanga Bridge of the Central Rescue Station. This is a long distance. The walking boy calmly whispered to himself. A tip for parents: if your offspring are gone, as a rule, go to land one way or another. This is almost always the case, “said J. Pirožnikas.

According to the interviewers, there are also situations in which rescuers and parents look for a child 3-4 hours after the beach, and the latter calmly arrives home during that time and waits here for his parents.

“Everyone is already thinking that maybe they really drowned, the parents report that the child is at home,” smiles J. Pirožnikas.

He realizes that there will be a lot of work on the beaches of Palanga this weekend and vacationers who see that someone is drowning, has sunstroke and there is or could be a disaster, called to call the short rescue phone: 1509.

“Perhaps your attention and your timely call will help someone save a life,” emphasized Pirožnikas.