School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
PLoS One. 2019 Feb 14;14(2):e0212349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212349. eCollection 2019.
An issue of growing importance within the field of drowning prevention is the undertaking of aquatic rescues by bystanders, who sometimes drown in the process. The main objectives of this study were to describe characteristics of bystanders making rescues in different Australian aquatic environments, identify the role of prior water safety training in conducting bystander rescues and provide insights into future public education strategies relating to bystander rescue scenarios. An online survey was disseminated via various social media platforms in 2017 and gathered a total of 243 complete responses. The majority of bystander rescues described took place in coastal waterways (76.5%; n = 186), particularly beaches (n = 67), followed by pools (17.3%; n = 42) and inland waterways (6.2%; n = 15). The majority of respondents were males (64.2%; n = 156) who rescued on average approximately twice as many people in their lifetime (6.5) than female respondents (3.6). Most rescues occurred more than 1 km from lifeguard/lifesaver services (67%; n = 163), but in the presence of others (94.2%; n = 229). The majority of bystander rescuers had water safety training (65.8%; n = 160), self-rated as strong swimmers (68.3%; n = 166), conducted the rescue without help from others (60%; n = 146), did not use a flotation device to assist (63%; n = 153), but were confident in their ability to make the rescue (76.5%; n = 186). However, most considered the situation to be very serious (58%; n = 141) and felt they had saved a life (70.1%; n = 172). With the exception of pools, most bystanders rescued strangers (76.1%; n = 185).While Australia clearly benefits from having a strong water safety culture, there is no clear consensus on the most appropriate actions bystanders should take when confronted with a potential aquatic rescue scenario. In particular, more research is needed to gather information regarding bystander rescues undertaken by those without prior water safety training.
溺水预防领域日益重要的问题是旁观者进行水上救援，而旁观者有时会在这个过程中溺水。本研究的主要目的是描述在澳大利亚不同的水上环境中进行救援的旁观者的特征，确定先前的水上安全培训在进行旁观者救援中的作用，并提供有关与旁观者救援场景相关的未来公共教育策略的见解。2017 年，通过各种社交媒体平台在线发布了一份调查问卷，共收集了 243 份完整的回复。描述的大多数旁观者救援发生在沿海水道（76.5%；n=186），特别是海滩（n=67），其次是游泳池（17.3%；n=42）和内陆水道（6.2%；n=15）。大多数受访者是男性（64.2%；n=156），他们一生中平均救援的人数是女性受访者（3.6）的两倍多（6.5）。大多数救援发生在离救生员/救生员服务超过 1 公里的地方（67%；n=163），但有其他人在场（94.2%；n=229）。大多数旁观者救援人员接受过水上安全培训（65.8%；n=160），自评为游泳能力很强（68.3%；n=166），没有他人帮助就进行了救援（60%；n=146），没有使用漂浮装置协助（63%；n=153），但对自己的救援能力有信心（76.5%；n=186）。然而，大多数人认为情况非常严重（58%；n=141），并认为他们挽救了生命（70.1%；n=172）。除了游泳池，大多数旁观者救援的是陌生人（76.1%；n=185）。尽管澳大利亚拥有强大的水上安全文化，但对于当面临潜在的水上救援场景时，旁观者应该采取的最合适的行动，目前还没有明确的共识。特别是，需要进行更多的研究，以收集有关未经水上安全培训的旁观者进行救援的信息。
