Opinion piece

Why Australia needs an effective national campaign to reduce coastal drowning

The beach is popular but potentially dangerous

Australia has more than 30,000 km of coastline and 10,685 beaches.¹ Beaches are a key attraction for both domestic and international tourists with approximately 80 million visits each year.² The coast, particularly the beach, is an integral part of the Australian lifestyle and tourism economy, but is sadly also a source of many preventable deaths and injuries.³

Drowning is a major public health problem with substantial personal, societal and economic costs. In Australia, drowning is ranked as the

Rip currents are one of the greatest dangers for coastal drowning

Rip currents are one of the greatest physical dangers to visitors on Australian beaches. Rip currents are strong, narrow seaward-flowing currents that extend from the shoreline through the surf zone and past the line of breakers. They are ubiquitous features on many Australian beaches, with an estimated 17,500 rip currents operating at any given time.¹ Rips are extremely dangerous to both inexperienced and experienced swimmers as they are characterised by mean flow speeds on the order of 0.5–1 

Swim between the flags and avoid the rip currents

One of SLSA's major strategies to reduce drowning, especially those caused by rip currents, is the “Swim Between the Flags” campaign.⁵ The key message to the public is captured by the acronym FLAGS:

• Find the flags and swim between them.

• Look at the safety signs.

• Ask a surf lifesaver for advice.

• Get a friend to swim with you.

• Stick your hand in the air if you are in trouble.

Significantly, there have been no formal evaluations of the FLAGS campaign and its efficacy is difficult to assess from existing

Key components of a campaign to reduce the risk of coastal drowning

We propose the need for a comprehensive research program which: (i) describes the epidemiology of coastal drowning, including causal factors; (ii) develops a targeted intervention to raise awareness of the importance of rip current avoidance; and (iii) implements and evaluates the intervention. This is a novel intervention, which fits in with the conceptual frameworks for sports injury prevention¹⁴ and will involve a safety promotion campaign aimed at attitude, knowledge and behaviour change. A

Conclusion

Minimising the risk of coastal drowning addresses the priority area of the National Water Safety Plan⁴ and would significantly contribute to our beaches being enjoyed as safely as possible. The centenary of Surf Life Saving Australia's establishment is being celebrated in 2007, which has been officially declared the national ‘Year of the Surf Lifesaver’. An effective national campaign to reduce the incidence of coastal drowning would be well timed to commemorate this auspicious occasion.