Rising from the rough waters

KUALA TERENGGANU, 4 Nov -- BAHAYA... Sekumpulan kanak-kanak bermain di persisir pantai dalam keadaan laut bergelora ketika tinjauan di Pantai Batu Burok hari ini.Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (MET Malaysia) mengeluarkan amaran angin kencang Timur Laut dengan kelajuan 40 hingga 50 kilometer sejam (km/j) dengan ombak mencapai ketinggian 3.5 meter dan juga terdedah kepada kenaikan air laut dijangka berlaku di perairan Terengganu, Pahang, Johor Timur, Sarawak dan Barat Sabah sehingga 6 November ini.Keadaan angin kencang dan laut bergelora ini berbahaya kepada semua aktiviti pantai termasuk menangkap ikan dan perkhidmatan feri.--fotoBERNAMA (2018) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA

THEY say three kinds of people instinctively run toward danger: journalists, police officers and firefighters.

That did not stop the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) from getting slammed left and right after six personnel from its Water Rescue Unit drowned while on a mission to rescue a teen boy who went missing while fishing at an old mining pool in Puchong, Selangor, in October. The boy also perished in the failed mission.

JBPM’s rescue SOP, the six men’s training and even their state of mind came under fire.

What many didn’t realise before was that there is a proper Water Rescue Unit in JBPM with trained personnel for surface water rescue at 294 JBPM stations and underwater rescue at 58 branches nationwide.

The JBPM has been a member of the Water Activity Safety Council (WASC) since it was set up in 2016 by the then Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry. The WASC is made up of relevant agencies, non-governmental organisations, local councils and others.

According to Assistant Commissioner Nik Zulkifli Ibrahim, who heads the Public Awareness Programme branch at JBPM, the department decided to switch to awareness campaigns and programmes when statistics showed that the number of deaths involving water accidents has increased steadily, and is now higher than the number of deaths involving fire.

“Traditionally, we were called to recover bodies from the water, but the rise in drowning incidents is alarming, so we thought prevention would be better,” he says.

The educational programmes are conducted through extra curricular activities (via the Kadet Bomba training modules at schools) as well as talks.

“This initiative is intensified before the school holidays as we usually go on radio and television, on top of the school visits, to talk about the issue.”

A challenge for JBPM is the lack of comprehensive data.

At present, data on drowning cases are also collected by various other agencies including local councils, the Malaysian Civil Defence Force, Department of Statistics, and the Health Ministry.

There is an urgent need for a complete database with statistics and related information on drowning cases so that a comprehensive plan can be introduced to reduce the number of such incidents, says Nik Zulkifli.

“The database will enable the authorities and relevant agencies like JBPM to develop measures to address the issue,” he says.

Now JBPM is looking at strengthening its enforcement of water safety measures, especially the safety design of public swimming pools and water safety signage and life saving equipment to prevent drowning.

“For this, we need the cooperation of the different stakeholders, not just the local councils but also NGOs.”

Last month, JBPM submitted its report on the Puchong tragedy to the Housing and Local Govern-ment Ministry.

“The investigation report included various recommendations for us to improve our water rescue SOP and training to prevent it from happening ever again,” said JBPM director-general Datuk Muhammad Hamdan Wahid.