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The Chairman of Sierra Leone Life Saving Society (SLLS) Patrick Olumide Campbell has called on the Sierra Leonean government to develop a national water safety plan in the country.
‘’ The national safety plan will take every institutions through the guidance, the procedure and every steps needed. Whether in a swimming pool, at the sea, lakes or river. Water safety is very important,’’ he told our reporter in an exclusive interview.
He said that, if there is a national water safety plan, it will provide the legal regulation as well as frame work aimed at saving the lives of people in the country, whilst underscoring that every year a number of people died as a result of drowning in the small West African nation.
‘’ Other water safety plan is when you want to go to the sea, for instance moving from Tagrin to the other end in Lungi, you need to ensure that you have a life jacket . If it is a boat, the captain of the boat should ensure that the boat is in place and suitable for transportation,’’ Patrick Olumide Campbell urged.
Campbell went on to state that it not advisable for someone to get drunk and swim whether in a swimming pool, lake or river adding, one must always be aware of their safety whenever they are in a water.
‘’ Sierra Leone is a signatory to many international treaties and therefore the government should see the need to pass into law a national water safety plan. Drowning has been declared by the United Nations as a disease like Malaria according to data released globally,’’ the Chairman Sierra Leone Life Saving society lamented.
In Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 drowning death reached 366.
The SLLS chairman however urged the country’s ministry of health as well as maritime authorities to join him in his call for the passage of a national safety plan thus underscoring the need for coordinated efforts from everyone especially civil society organization for such law to be passed and the training on basic lifesaving skills like CPR.
‘’ Our hands are open for any collaboration. My organization has undertaken a conference and advocacy on drowning prevention in 2019 when the United Nations has not even declared drowning as a disease. It was declared as a disease in 2021,’’ the Chairman said, adding that they at SLLS have been carrying out drowning prevention and CPR trainings in the country.
The Chairman lamented that they as an organization have been trying their best in sensitizing the public on drowning prevention, trainings on basic lifesaving skills like CPR, despite the lack of funding stating that they see such a cause as an important drive towards saving many lives in Sierra Leone.
Campbell last month returned to Sierra Leone from South Africa where he attended the 2024 Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) Africa Drowning Prevention Development Workshop.
