School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
UNSW Beach Safety Research Group, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
PLoS One. 2022 Jan 11;17(1):e0262175. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262175. eCollection 2022.
Multicultural communities in Australia are recognised as a priority area for drowning prevention, but no evidence-based study has addressed their knowledge of beach safety. This study used an online survey tool to identify and examine risk factors relating to swimming ability, beach visitation characteristics and behaviour, and beach safety knowledge of the Australian Southern Asian community to assist in the development of future beach safety interventions. Data was obtained through 249 online and in-person surveys of people aged > 18 years. Most respondents reported poor swimming ability (80%), often swam in in the absence of lifeguards (77%), did not understand the rip current hazard (58%), but reported that they entered the water (76%) when visiting beaches. Close to one-quarter (28%) had not heard, or didn't know the purpose, of the red and yellow beach flags, which identify lifeguard supervised areas on Australian beaches. Length of time living in Australia is an important beach safety consideration for this community, with minimal differences in terms of gender and age. Those who have lived < 10 years in Australia visit beaches more frequently and are less likely to have participated in swimming lessons, be able to swim, heard of the flags or swim between them, understand rip currents, or have participated in a beach safety program. Very few (3%) respondents received beach safety information from within their own community. The importance of beach safety education and swimming lessons within the Southern Asian community should be prioritised for new and recent migrants to Australia.
澳大利亚的多元文化社区被认为是预防溺水的重点领域，但没有基于证据的研究涉及他们的海滩安全知识。本研究使用在线调查工具，确定并检查与游泳能力、海滩访问特征和行为以及澳大利亚南亚社区海滩安全知识相关的风险因素，以协助制定未来的海滩安全干预措施。通过对 249 名年龄>18 岁的在线和现场受访者进行了数据收集。大多数受访者报告游泳能力差（80%），经常在没有救生员的情况下游泳（77%），不了解激流危险（58%），但报告说他们在访问海滩时进入水中（76%）。接近四分之一（28%）的人没有听说过或不知道红色和黄色海滩旗帜的目的，这些旗帜标识了澳大利亚海滩上有救生员监督的区域。在澳大利亚生活的时间长短是该社区海滩安全的一个重要考虑因素，性别和年龄的差异最小。在澳大利亚生活<10 年的人更频繁地访问海滩，不太可能参加游泳课程，能够游泳，听说过旗帜或在旗帜之间游泳，了解激流，或参加过海滩安全计划。很少有（3%）受访者从自己的社区获得海滩安全信息。海滩安全教育和游泳课程在南亚社区中应该优先考虑新移民和最近移民。
