Pictures: Shropshire firefighters in river rescue training day
Firefighters took to the water for what may have looked like a dramatic river rescue on the Severn, but was in fact a major training exercise to prepare for just such a thing.
The crews from the Telford and Bridgnorth areas took part in the drill which took place on the stretch of the River Severn between Severn Park and Bylet, near Bridgnorth.
They practised saving casualties, including using a fire hose as an inflatable aid to those who may have got into trouble in the fast-flowing river. Firefighters also practised surrounding the area to keep it safe and looking out others who may have fallen into the river.
Speaking for Shropshire Fire and Rescue service, Tony Talbot, directing the exercise, said such regular training was an important part of fire crew's work despite cuts to the service, to keep them ready and prepared for the real thing.
He said: "There were 27 river rescues last year. We're hoping to cut down on that with educating members of the public, and obviously these type of issue come up but hopefully we'll carry on with training as much as we can."
The exercise comes after the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) warned children are more at risk of injury during the holidays than at any other time of the year.
The society has produced guidelines advising parents how best to keep their children safe during the summer.
Water is considered a major danger during the summer months. Last year, nine-year-old Christopher Reynolds was plucked from the River Teme at Ludlow after getting into trouble. The youngster, from Leominster, had entered a seemingly harmless part of the water, but was carried downstream.
Days earlier, a 15-year-old boy was described as "lucky to be alive" after being pulled from a quarry pool in Telford. The teenager, who was not named, coughed up three pints of dirty water after being rescued from Blue Pool, off Randlay Avenue, by a fisherman. Disturbingly, the other children refused to leave the water and continued to swim.
To highlight the dangers, West Midlands Ambulance Service has made a safety film, featuring the River Severn at Jackfield, near Ironbridge, which has been highlighted as a particular danger spot. The film shows paramedics training in the fast-running water, showing how even in full safety equipment it is a struggle for them to battle the current.
The service's water safety expert John Woodhall urges people to stay out of rivers. "Don't swim in them, they are dangerous places," he says.
He said crews have been called several times to the river at Jackfield.
Emergency services have also voiced concerns that people do not know the full dangers of swimming in open water such as reservoirs, pools, lakes, quarries and canals, during hot weather to cool down. As well as being deeper and colder then at first sight, discarded machinery, waste and needles also present a danger.
In the past, people have also been seen jumping from the bridge by the Boathouse Inn on the River Severn at Shrewsbury, close to where there was a fatality in 2013.
Quarry lakes can also be highly dangerous, with hidden rocks and extremely cold temperatures beneath the apparently inviting surface. Last year 19-year-old Alec Lightfoot drowned at a pool at the former Trentham Quarry in Ashley, near Market Drayton.
The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) has urged children to only use sites that are designated for swimming when they decide to take a dip.
