Police headed out to the River Trent this week alongside our Underwater Search Team to highlight the devasting results that could happen if you jump into any river.
Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Inspector, Tim Cuthbert said:
‘We have numerous reports every summer of people using this area to dive into the Trent, and into the water areas around here. And it’s very dangerous, it’s murky.
‘We’re trying to discourage that this year to try and keep people as safe as we possibly can.
‘The kids who come down here tend to be between the sort of age of 13 to 16 years old.
‘So if you’re a parent and you’re allowing your son or daughter out to come and play near the water, we don’t want it to end in a disastrous situation where we’ve got a loss of life.
‘And then we need to use our diving team, who are training down here to recover their body from the Trent, which is the worst case scenario because you don’t know what sort of dangers you face in the water.
PC Steve Craner of the Underwater Search Unit said:
‘If you get some nice weather, it looks like a really nice day, you’re nice and warm, it looks like something fun to do, come and jump in the water. And I completely get that. However, the dangers that surround the water are massive. Somebody jumps into the water thinking, it’s a great time, we’re going to have a great laugh.
‘Watch me. My mates are egging me on. All of that sort of stuff happens. We understand it happens, but it is the worst thing you can do is to bow to that pressure and get in the water, because the effects that it can have on your body are very quick, very fast-acting, and can have a disastrous effect.
‘The cold water shock itself will make you incredibly cold. All of a sudden. It will shock your breathing. You can take in a massive gasp of air, which most likely would mean that you’re probably taking a massive gas of water. Unfortunately your motor functions, you start to lose those very quickly.
‘So you might think you’re a great swimmer, but all of a sudden you’ve had that cold water shock hit your body. Your breathing’s all panicky, your heart rates shot up, you’re losing your motor functions and you lose the ability to swim. Obviously, our advice is do not go into the water.
‘There’s no lifeguard here. There’s nobody to rescue you. If by accident, somebody falls into the water, there are life rings on most banksides. The advice is to stop and look, to shout for help, to call 999. And if you’re in the water yourself, the best thing to do is remain as calm as possible.
‘Turn onto your back, keep your head up and just float. And then try and just use your arms to guide you to the bankside, to the nearest bank. Try not to panic and just try and float, please.
Tim added:
‘If you’re going to be around the water this summer, please be safe. We would discourage you from swimming in the open water here. It’s a dangerous situation and we can’t guarantee people safety all the time. We can’t be here 24/7 to stop people doing it. And the last thing we want to be doing is calling our colleagues from the diving, search and rescue teams to go and fish people out of the water.
‘It’s just not a pleasant experience and it’s a horrible thing for a family to have to go through.’
