The Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) received a total of 1,595 distress calls related to drowning incidents for a period of five years, from 2018 to 2022.
JBPM Fire Safety Division’s Building Safety Certification Section head Nordin Pauzi said of that number, 1,341 emergency calls were for cases of drowning that resulted in death.
He said that on average, JBPM recorded a total of 268 drowning cases a year.
“This is a fairly big number; an average of 23 cases a month and this is based on the statistics.
“Based on these statistics too, men recorded are the highest percentage, at 89 per cent, who are involved in drowning incidents which cause death,” he said when appearing as a guest on the ‘Selamat Pagi Malaysia’ programme produced by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) today.
Meanwhile, on World Drowning Prevention Day 2023 which is observed today, Nordin said this is to commemorate the importance of preventing drowning tragedies among people around the world.
He said today should be observed by the responsible authorities including industry players such as the management of hotels which have pools and water theme parks.
“Take the opportunity today to review standard operating procedures to review safety equipment. At least we have one day to be careful or monitor things related to water safety,” he said.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency