Reckless stand-up paddlers overworking Austria's lifeguards

Risky behavior is behind a 40% uptick in rescue operations compared to last year.  #Austria

Transcript

00:00Austria's lifeguards are close to exhaustion.

00:06The summer is set for a new record number of rescue operations.

00:11Emergency forces are warning the problem is risky behavior.

00:15The number of rescue operations is continuously increasing.

00:20People fall into the water, they panic and drown.

00:23That's what we see.

00:25The causes of many accidents are increasingly popular water sports like stand-up paddling.

00:32Many stand-up paddlers underestimate the more frequent and more severe storms and go further

00:38out than they would if they were swimming. And when the storm hits, instead of paddling

00:42to the nearest shore, they often take longer routes back to their car belongings, risking their lives.

00:50Challenges posed by severe weather are increasing.

00:54Last year, Austria's fire departments registered twice as many storm-related

00:58missions than the year before.

01:00I fell off the board in the middle of the lake, so I had to swim back like 30 minutes.

01:08Divers are getting ready to save those who are less able.

01:12Eight percent of Austrians can't swim. Many more wouldn't last 30 minutes in open water.

01:18We've experienced that less and less people are really able to swim for a longer time.

01:28The biggest obstacle for Vienna's rescue divers is emergency callers not properly

01:33describing the location of the accident.

01:36Of course, we do have the opportunity to locate them also via cell phone,

01:41but the more information we have, the better we can react.

01:45The best description would be visible buildings on shore or the distance to bridges.

01:51Too often, however, divers can only recover the body when it's too late.

01:56Johannes Blechberger, CGTN, Vienna.