On Thursday afternoon at 5pm an incident occurred at the Upper Sûre Lake, when a person entered the water near Lultzhausen and got into difficulty. An off-duty member of the Water Rescue Unit was swimming nearby and reacted swiftly to rescue the person.
By chance an off-duty nurse was also at the scene, and together with the help of two further members of the water rescue services, they were able to reanimate the person through CPR, who was then flown to hospital in a stable condition.
The Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS) reiterated that in the case of such an incident, it is always recommended to call 112 to report the accident. While waiting for emergency services, one should try to help a swimmer in distress by throwing them a lifebuoy or a similar object. Someone who is not trained in rescue swimming should not risk jumping into the water to help a person in distress, as this could endanger both people.
To avoid such incidents, CGDIS made the following recommendations for safe swimming:
• Learn to swim and recognise one's swimming limits
• Avoid jumping into bodies of water, instead entering slowly.
• Swimmers should wait at least 2 hours before swimming after a big meal.
• In case of fatigue, reduce the amount of time spent in the water.
• Be wary of cold water and exit the water immediately upon shivering.
• Never dive into an unknown body of water.
• Rather than swimming into open water, swim parallel to the shore.
• Take care and never let children swim unattended.
