Prevention of water fatalities

June 28, 2022

To prevent fatalities on water bodies, a comprehensive set of measures is being implemented, ranging from the execution of organizational and technical solutions to educating citizens on life safety fundamentals.

To ensure the safe recreation on water bodies on a daily basis, over 1.7 thousand employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Belarusian Voluntary Society for the Rescue of the Drowning (OSVOD) are on duty
(this includes 386 divers, 311 motorboat operators, 140 medical workers, and 872 lifeguards at rescue stations and posts).

The protection of human life on the water bodies of the republic is carried out by 67 rescue stations and 185 OSVOD rescue posts.

Explanatory and preventive work is continuously carried out among the population, aimed at maximally reducing the probability of fatalities on the republic's waters. This work is conducted with the participation of all interested bodies, services, and organizations.

Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and OSVOD speak at work collectives, educational institutions, preschools, on radio and television on issues of safe behavior on water bodies. At the OSVOD rescue stations and posts, the broadcast of preventive information blocks via public address systems has been organized.

Daily, in each district, as part of the "Summer Patrol" campaign, Ministry of Emergency Situations and OSVOD employees conduct raids on public recreation areas near water, with the aim of reducing accidents.

Weekly, to draw public attention to the issue of fatalities on water bodies, SMS messages are sent to citizens.

To prevent and mitigate fatalities on water bodies, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages have been prohibited on many beaches across the country by decisions of local executive and administrative bodies.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations and OSVOD have established clear interaction with law enforcement agencies. Police patrols deployed for duty near water bodies, together with OSVOD and Ministry of Emergency Situations rescuers, conduct explanatory work with citizens on the inadmissibility of consuming alcoholic beverages, as well as being in public places and swimming while intoxicated.

swimming in prohibited areas, using watercraft not intended for this purpose. Administrative measures shall be applied to persons consuming alcoholic beverages or being in a state of intoxication in public recreation areas near water.

For the first time in the country, aviation preventive raids were conducted in swimming areas and public recreation zones to draw people's attention to the problem of fatalities in water bodies, to inform them about safety rules, as well as to identify unauthorized swimming areas and violations of water safety rules.

Scrolling text for TV

The Ministry of Emergency Situations warns! The main cause of death in water is personal carelessness. Your safety depends on you!