Bathing Rescue Team trained in urban flood search and rescue
A citizen who was walking on one of the banks of the river Leça, near the Ponte do Carro, in Santa Cruz do Bispo, fell into the water and broke his leg. A companion of the victim requested help to the Shared Emergency Centre of Matosinhos. A team from the Bathing Rescue System came to rescue the victim, in coordination with other entities.
The scenario is real, but the occurrence was fictitious. It was a drill that took place on the morning of April 8 and involved, besides the Bathing Rescue System, the Civil Protection services, the Voluntary Fire Brigade and the Municipal Police.
Present at the drill were the Mayor, Luísa Salgueiro, the Civil Protection councillor, Marta Pontes, and the president of the parish councils of Perafita, Lavra and Santa Cruz do Bispo, Lurdes Queirós.
The aim was to test knowledge and techniques and to streamline procedures with the remaining agents in the response and help in this type of scenario.
With the arrival of spring, many people walk along the Leça Green Corridor every day. The second phase of the project, which ends precisely at Ponte do Carro, is underway.
In order to anticipate possible accidents in areas of difficult access, the local authority has invested in specific training to respond to occurrences that may arise with the use of this space.
The Bathing Rescue team has received training in search and rescue in urban floods, thus becoming qualified for the rescue in river/waters and urban floods in combined spaces. Since it is not permanently in Leça River, but in the beaches, the Bathing Rescue team will be activated, whenever necessary, by the Leça Green Corridor lifeguard team.
It should be remembered that the Bathing Rescue team, composed of eight people, has been ensuring safety on the municipality's beaches since 2008, having saved more than 450 people to date.
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