SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 15 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
35% of Canarian students admit to having suffered a mishap with the use of different types of float, especially with sleeves and floats in the shape of a ‘donut’ and an animal (unicorn, flamingo, among others).
This has been corroborated again during the talks given today Monday to 70 students of 6th grade of Primary, by the expert disseminator of the prevention of aquatic accidents and promoter of the platform ‘Canarias, 1500 Km de Costa’, Sebastián Quintana.
The students reported different episodes of risk experienced in different aquatic environments, both beaches and swimming pools, some of them with serious consequences. In this regard, Quintana stressed the difference between “life jackets and inflatable toys.”
The danger of using cuffs lies in the ease of getting out of the arms, while circular floats can turn around leaving the child face down, making it impossible for the child to raise their head to the surface. On the other hand, the animal-shaped floats, both the neck and the head, act as a sail, moving the swimmer out to sea at high speed.
During the dissertation, almost all of the students acknowledged having starred in some risky situation on beaches, swimming pools and natural pools despite their young age.
The young people learned first-hand how to prevent and act in the face of the main danger factors that a bather can face, such as bathing when the red flag flies, going to beaches without surveillance or being immersed in a return current, through of the real cases and spots of the audiovisual campaign of the platform.
With the talks held today on the island of Tenerife, a public service initiative sponsored by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, and with the collaboration of the City of Mar Department of the LPGC City Council, the Government of the Canary Islands and the Elder de la Ciencia Museum and Technology, about 9,200 students are reached.
