19 / 5 / 2024 

The Civil Defense Directorate stated that, since the beginning of this year, 43 drowning incidents were responded in all governorates of the Kingdom, resulting in the loss of 19 people of all ages, in addition to the injury of 33 others. The necessary first aid was conducted upon arrival as they were transported to receive treatment.

Colonel Ahmed Ziadat, Head of the Civil Defense Operations Division, added in his interview with Public Security Radio (AMEN FM)  that the Civil Defense cadres achieved record response times and speeds relative to international standards, reaching an average of about 8 minutes, adding that drowning cases cause rapid death if the victim is not reached by those around him especially since many of the cases are children and adolescents.

Colonel Al-Zayadat added that the incidents was the result of mistakes that have been made and are being warned about dozens of times on a daily basis, which shows a lack of seriousness or negligence in dealing with some of these dangerous and deadly behaviors that some may consider unimportant, indicating that Public Security Directorate is sparing no effort to preserve lives and property through advice and guidance in cooperation with all media to deliver messages about the necessity of adopting preventive behavior in various aspects of life in order to preserve lives.

Colonel Al-Zayadat indicated that Public Security Directorate began warning early this year through initiatives and campaigns, the latest of which was the Safe Summer campaign, which was launched last week, to avoid the causes of drowning incidents, the most prominent of which was swimming in bodies of water not designated for that (such as dams, agricultural ponds, and water canals),  The hobby of fishing inside dams using some primitive boats, which are not suitable for practicing this hobby, instead of the lack of a suitable environment for fishing inside dams due to the danger of this, as they are considered unsuitable areas for that.

The Civil Defense Directorate had activated advanced water rescue points near dams and water canals, especially during holidays and vacations, in addition to geographical expansion by opening field diving centers in the vast agricultural units areas and the Aqaba and Dead Sea regions.

Al-Ziyadat indicated that one of the reasons leading to the occurrence of drowning incidents is swimming inside some private farms, which have swimming pools that do not meet public safety conditions, in addition to the lack of follow-up of children and allowing them to use such pools with relatively large depths.

Colonel Al-Zayadat added that since the beginning of the summer, the Civil Defense Operations Division began responding to calls related to the exposure of some people to drowning in bodies of water, especially agricultural ponds, in which anyone who swims is exposed to certain drowning, as they are not suitable for practicing the hobby of swimming, even if the person has sufficient skill and capability in Swimming is due to the nature of the design of these pools and the plastic material covered in them, which results in a sticky substance that a person cannot get out of easily.