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Water safety experts have launched a summer campaign in Bahrain alerting parents that it can take a child only 20 seconds to drown … with the support of Bahrain’s own social media platform GDNlife.
The main aim of the National Water Safety campaign – spearheaded by Bahrain’s pioneering water safety body the Royal Life Saving Bahrain (RLSB) and sponsored by telecom giant Batelco – is to save lives. 

“On average, 16 to 20 lives are lost to drowning each year in Bahrain and we believe that even one life lost, is one too many,” said RLSB general manager Sam Rahman.
“After all, it only takes 20 seconds for a child to drown in as little as a few inches of water. Very few people are aware that it can happen this quickly, which is why we need to draw attention to the importance of correctly supervising children in, on and around water at all times.
“Anywhere there is water there is a danger to children’s safety if they are left unsupervised, including the home, in the swimming pool and splashing around in the sea on a visit to the beach.”

The #itonlytakes20seconds initiative is not only designed to raise awareness in the community on the importance of supervising children while in, on and around water but further aims to develop a culture of swimming and enjoyment of water, while promoting water safety.
It was launched last week with a teasing series of photographs and videos to grab the public’s attention.
The combination of these efforts should help reduce water related deaths and injuries in Bahrain, organisers hope.
The campaign is the outcome of the agreement signed between RLSB and the Bahrain Swimming Association last year, which stems from the belief that drowning prevention is everyone’s responsibility, and on the need for more awareness about the importance of supervising children correctly while in and around water.
Mr Rahman hopes to promote a culture of volunteerism in this field too.

“Drowning prevention is everyone’s responsibility, and we must all work together to encourage everyone to enjoy swimming and recreation in water safely,” he added.
“Summer is when we generally see the highest number of drowning incidents, and so the campaign will run throughout May, June and July.”

The GDN reported in 2019 that a nationwide survey by RLSB revealed that more than 47 per cent of children in Bahrain do not know how to swim.

The Water Safety Benchmarking Survey also exposed that 95pc of children do not currently learn swimming at primary schools.
The survey covered a representational sample of the population with 573 people taking part, 88pc of who were Bahrainis.
It also called for children to be taught swimming and basic water safety skills, with 73pc of participants stressing the need for swimming lessons to be compulsory at primary school level.

“These figures are the reason which prompted us into this campaign,” added Mr Rahman. “The survey also revealed that 70pc of the people did not go swimming or rarely went, while 55c of adults cannot or rarely swim.
“Four out of five people do not participate in any water related activity. These are facts about a community that lives on an island country, which we often think are close to water-related activities.”

Free swimming lessons are also on the cards for people as part of the campaign, supported by Batelco, the key sponsor of the initiative. The telecom company will be funding 100 non-swimming members of the community to complete a 12 lesson ‘Swim for Safety’ programme with RLSB in the summer.
Participants will learn vital swimming skills that may one day save their life, or the life of someone else. More information on the lessons is on the RLSB website.
Activities will be featured in print and online, as well as on GDNLife, the popular platform launched last year by the Al Hilal Group – publishers of the GDN.
The new addition to the group’s integrated publishing platform which combines print, online and social media, establishes the GDN and the Gulf Weekly as the only media in Bahrain with a social media platform dedicated to the kingdom’s community of citizens and expatriates.

“It’s hugely popular with photographers, everyone following the latest Covid-19 updates in the health section, and the short stories contest section for adults and children regularly attracts thousands of visitors,” said GDN Media’s associate editor Stanley Szecowka. “Don’t forget to download the app
on your smartphone and stay safe in the water this summer.”

For more details check out www.rlsbahrain.org/itonlytakes20seconds