Drowning Prevention Day at NCI Exmouth Coastwatch House declared a success

On Saturday 19 June, three major organisations came together to promote the Royal Life Saving Society's (RLSS) Drowning Prevention Week.

Hosted by National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) Exmouth in the car park of Coastwatch House on Queens' Drive in Exmouth, the event saw volunteers from the RNLI on hand offering free checks on lifejackets and buoyancy aids, handing out leaflets on water safety, and giving advice on local conditions.

The RLSS brought along a 'Resusci Annie' and training defibrillator and gave demonstrations of how to carry out CPR and use a defibrillator.

They also had cartoon-type mats for the children to spot dangers in rivers, ponds, at home and on the beach. These were very popular with the younger generation.

Coastwatch House was open for the public to walk through and learn about the history and current working practices of the NCI in Exmouth.

Kirra Broadhurst from Pinhoe, who attended the event with her 6 year old son Rory, said: "This was a very worthwhile event. Rory loved looking at the 'spot-the-danger' floor mats, and we were able to get both of his buoyancy aids checked to reassure me that they were safe.

"I was grateful to be able to revise my CPR skills; even Rory had a go.

"I would like to say thank you to all those volunteers who gave up their time that day to bring about this about."

The weather was kind and over 300 people stopped by for advice and information.

Hugh De Souza, one of the organisers, said: "We were delighted with the response from the public and we hope to be able to run this event again next year."

NCI Exmouth has as many as 65 volunteer watchkeepers, and was the UK's second busiest station in 2020.

As well as listening out for Mayday calls, NCI Exmouth assists mariners by providing them with the facility to check that their radio is working before they commence a journey, operating on VHF Channel 65, with the call sign 'Exmouth NCI'. It also provides reports of in-shore weather conditions.

NCI Exmouth is on watch every day. In an emergency, officers are on-call outside of these hours.

For more information, click here to visit their website.