In the final days of May, the weather in Điện Biên entered a period of intense heat. Many children often gather at ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and canals to swim and play to cool off. However, among them, some do not know how to swim, while others, despite being good swimmers, lack the skills to handle underwater incidents or safe rescue techniques, leaving a constant latent risk of drowning accidents.

Reality shows that most drowning accidents among children typically occur during the summer vacation, a time when they have plenty of playtime but lack supervision from families and schools. Just in May, tragic drowning accidents among children repeatedly occurred across many localities nationwide.

In Điện Biên, two drowning incidents have occurred since the beginning of the year, claiming the lives of two children. Therefore, raising drowning prevention and control skills for children at an early stage is extremely necessary.

Under the guidance of the Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Police Division, in the middle of May, more than 20 students from provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding High School were trained and practiced drowning prevention skills. They were guided on how to recognize drowning risks, first-aid skills when encountering drowning accidents, how to use life jackets, rescue and salvage skills, and practiced first-aid methods for drowning victims.

Being one of the students participating in the training, Vừ A Cháng said that he learned many useful skills, such as how to handle encountering a drowning person, initial first aid, and self-protection skills when swimming in streams, ponds, and lakes. After the class, he understood that danger could happen at any time if one becomes subjective, and he would remind his friends not to swim in dangerous places on their own to avoid unfortunate accidents.

Not only at the provincial boarding school, since the beginning of the year, the Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Police Division has organized dissemination at 32 schools with a total of 19,468 officials, teachers, pupils, and students participating. The content focused on fire prevention and fighting skills, accident and injury prevention, escape skills, and especially drowning prevention skills for children before the summer vacation.

Nguyễn Văn Thưởng, Head of the Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Police Division, stated that along with focusing on dissemination in schools, the unit proactively reviews and compiles statistics on areas at risk of drowning accidents to deploy appropriate warning and prevention measures, combined with strengthening mobilization for families to care for and manage children during the summer break and the rainy and stormy season.

Accordingly, the Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Police Division built two dissemination videos guiding drowning prevention skills to broadcast on the ANTV television channel and Facebook platform, while organizing three training classes on rescue and salvage skills in drowning situations in Si Pa Phìn, Mường Lạn, and Pa Ham communes for civil defense forces and grassroots-level security and order guards with 350 participants. The unit also coordinated with commune-level People’s Committees to install 56 barriers, prohibition signs, and danger warning signs at river, stream, and lake areas at risk of drowning, helping residents and children easily recognize them and raise prevention awareness.

Summer is a time for children to rest, play, and explore. However, for summer to truly be safe days, alongside the involvement of functional forces, it requires the care and accompaniment of families and the community in managing, reminding, and equipping children with safety skills, especially drowning prevention skills.