A
new lifesaver hits the beach!
Losing site of a child on a crowded beach can be a
nightmare scenario, but now, thanks to a new safety scheme being piloted this
summer, kids can play and paddle more safely on West Wittering Beach in Sussex.
The company behind the scheme, Child Safe Zones,
are working with West Wittering Beach to offer a unique service that aims to
help reunite lost children with their families as quickly as possible
 The Child Safe Zones Beach Scheme:
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On arrival at the beach
parents are encouraged to ring a Child Safe Beach telephone number, to listen
to the latest safety messages from the lifeguards. The same number is then
displayed up and down West Wittering beach, and will put holidaymakers who are
concerned about a lost or distressed child, directly in touch with the
lifeguards, who will help them. The beach is divided into areas, each
identified by a letter displayed on the signs; this helps the lifeguards to
locate a caller quickly, and avoids parents moving away from where they last
saw their child.
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The use of waterproof wristbands is promoted. These
are designed to make sure children are carrying contact details with them at
all times, one of the best and quickest ways to help reunite a lost child with
their parents. The lifeguards and beach and surf shops are distributing free
wristbands.
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If a family has set up a
Child Safe Family ID key contact numbers, medical information and a photograph
can be made available via a 24 hour call centre. The Life Guards at West Wittering can receive a photo of a
missing child directly from this call centre to a picture phone located in the
security office.
 David Piper, Manager of the award winning Blue Flag
beach, said “These new wristbands are easy and comfortable to wear and come in
a range of bright colours, so the kids think they are cool to wear. Being
waterproof and secure, children can still go in and out of the sea without the
bands coming off or getting torn and lost. The quicker we can locate a missing
child and return them to their parents the better it is for everyone. This
system gives us that ability.”
Steve Wills, Beach Safety and Education Manager, based
at the RNLI HQ, says, “The RNLI have been made aware of the Child Safe Beach
scheme and fully supports any service which helps speed up the process of
finding a lost child. The scheme is also educating the public about the dangers
on the beach, which will ultimately reduce the number of deaths, and serious
accidents that occur each year. The RNLI is planning to visit the pilot scheme
this year to establish rolling the scheme out onto RNLI life guarded beaches as
well.”
Paul Kent from Child Safe Zones said “We have worked
very closely with parents, Shopping Centres and Town Centres in the last 12
months to establish the benefits of Child Safe Zones to families, and the
places they visit. We now hope that this pilot scheme will lead to many more UK
beaches adopting the scheme in 2005 to the benefit of many more families. Our
overall objective is to reduce anxiety for a child if they are lost. Making
sure that parents are aware of what to do if they lose site of their child,
wherever they are, and to provide both families and family venues with tools to
help in the event a search becomes necessary”
A Child Safe Zones Family ID means a family can take
the benefit of the scheme wherever they travel, including abroad. When a family
registers they can securely store vital information about their child, a
photograph, emergency contact numbers, and details of key medical information
such as allergies or medication. Parents can then access or authorise access to
the information, should it be needed, using a unique family ID and password.
Once registered, should a child go missing, a call to
the Child Safe Zones 24 hour support centre will set a chain of events into
motion. An alert can be tied into a report from someone finding the child; a
missing poster can be created and emailed to a specific location, or published
on the web site where it can automatically be translated into key European
languages if necessary.
Click here now to register with Child Safe Zones.
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