NSRI SAFETY ALERT

NSRI are appealing to bathers, boaters, paddlers, sailors, anglers and coastal hikers to be cautious around the coastline and on inland water ways and on coastal hiking trails.

Adopt a safety conscious approach to swimming, boating, paddling and sailing.

We appeal to motorists and pedestrians not to try to cross rivers, swollen or flooded by storms, including low lying motor vehicle bridges submerged under water by swollen or flooded rivers.

Along the coastline only swim at beaches protected by lifeguards.

Inland water users are also urged to be cautious - an increase at inland water related emergencies is of concern and we are appealing to everyone in and around inland waterways to have safety top of mind.

This festive season, on evaluation, appears to indicate that fatal drowning incidents around the coastline may have mostly occurred at beaches not protected by lifeguards.

We are also appealing to bathers not to drink alcohol and then go swimming.

Around the coastline rip currents appear to remain the greatest cause of bathers getting into difficulty in the surf.

The NSRI pink rescue buoys, stationed around South Africa on coastal and on inland waters, at some rivers and dams, are proving, beyond any doubt, their value to aid bathers who get into difficulty.

To date NSRI pink rescue buoys are now responsible for contributing to 177 lives saved (that we know of), since the inception of the program in late 2017, all in water rescues have been successful and no harm has come to any of the rescuers who have used an NSRI pink rescue buoy to help someone in distress and in danger of drowning.

NSRI are appealing to boaters, sailors and paddlers to use the free NSRI SafeTrx smartphone application that can be downloaded from our web page - https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsri.org.za%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cmaritha%40searescue.org.za%7C73e19d158153425aadc908dc1660e958%7Cadc954c84e484dc28bfc642191590ed1%7C0%7C0%7C638409852730513995%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5d5H5oatqHB2f6TKCPUpwkliAbxWA2xWmGq1dpsOK34%3D&reserved=0

(https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsri.org.za%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cmaritha%40searescue.org.za%7C73e19d158153425aadc908dc1660e958%7Cadc954c84e484dc28bfc642191590ed1%7C0%7C0%7C638409852730513995%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5d5H5oatqHB2f6TKCPUpwkliAbxWA2xWmGq1dpsOK34%3D&reserved=0)