This press statement came in today on behalf of the Independent Group of County Councillors regarding the Isle of Wight council’s proposed cuts to lifeguards – Ed
Plans by the ruling Conservative Group at County Hall, to axe the lifeguard service, have been branded as negligent by the Independent Group of Councillors whose members represent seaside wards all over the Island.
Average cost of one fatality estimated at £1m
A spokesperson for the group, Cllr Chris Welsford said: “With the average cost of one fatality estimated by the Department of Transport at £1m, and the cost of major incidents running into the tens of thousands, the idea that we should look to save £100k per annum by cutting the lifeguards is wrong and must be reconsidered”.
Tourists rightly expect a safe seaside experience when visiting our main seaside resorts: Ventnor; Sandown; Shanklin and Ryde, all of which stand to lose their lifeguards from April 2011″.
Island has an average of 305 incidents each year
Incident statistics for the last six years, released to Independent Councillors this week, have revealed that lifeguards responded to an average of 305 incidents each year. There were on average 31 rescues and incidents where assistance was provided. Annually, major first aid was provided an average of 19 times, as well as 80 other incidents involving warnings, advice and prevention including 10 lost children.
Overall this represents a significant level of activity that prevented more serious injuries or fatalities from arising and that would have resulted in more costly Coastguard, Police and NHS intervention.
“93 cases involving major first aid”
Cllr Welsford said: “with 93 cases involving major first aid and 71 rescues, it is clear that lives have been saved during the last 6 years. Without lifeguards, untrained individuals will be more likely to attempt rescues for which they are not competent. There are instances all around our shores of members of the public as well as police officers and others, who have drowned attempting rescues for which they are not trained.
“Each life lost a deep personal tragedy and a significant cost to the taxpayer. The public agree with us. The cut to the Lifeguard Service was the least popular choice in the Council’s online “budget simulator” survey. We are asking Cllr Brown to listen to what we are saying about the dire consequences of such cuts and think again”.
Image: roberto8080 under CC BY 2.0
