Print

Mail

wiki links

Youth urged to learn to save themselves

Traffic and drowning accidents are the major causes of adolescent deaths, said the Bureau of Health Promotion during an accident-prevention and safety education exposition yesterday.

As of June, more than 500 people, mostly young people, had drowned, while there have been more than 1,000 fatal traffic accidents involving young people so far this year, according to the Department of Health's figures.

Wu Jen-rung (吳珍容), section chief of the bureau's Division of Child and Adolescent Health, said that traffic and drowning accidents occur all year round with adolescent deaths at the top of the list for both accidents.

The most important thing is teaching young people and the general public how to save themselves during an emergency situation, Wu said.

Wu cited the example of the community-safety education program carried out in coastal Fengbin Township (豐濱), in which local residents enrolled in self-rescue courses.

Since the township was on the coast and attracts numerous tourists every year, there have frequently been drowning accidents, said Li Mei-hsi (黎美希), director of the township's community center.

In the workshops, people were taught how to make lifesavers from everyday items such as plastic bottles, picnic coolers, buckets and plastic bags, Li said, since real lifesavers are often blown away by typhoons, swept away by tides, or stolen.

All the students in the township are given reflective stickers to put on their backpacks to improve traffic safety as well, Li said.

The township was one of just four townships in the country to be certified as a "safety community" by the WTO in June.

The Society of Education for Antiaccident in Water (SEAW) set up booths at the exposition with cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Wu said that with the arrival of cold fronts, the public should be aware of the common winter-time accident -- carbon monoxide poisoning which occurs when heating devices are not properly operated, ventilated or maintained.

There must be proper ventilation -- such as open windows -- when using gas, no matter how cold it is outside, Wu said.
This story has been viewed 1794 times.