Dubai’s beaches to soon have all-women rescue teams, sea ambulances

Dubai is soon planning to deploy all-women rescue teams at its beaches, it was revealed on Thursday.

Currently, 12 women are being trained to respond to emergencies, with the police planning to increase the number to 18 by the end of the year, official news agency WAM reported.

The move is part of a two-month long beach safety campaign which aims to raise awareness about drowning among beachgoers.

Six people died by drowning and three others have been injured in Dubai’s beaches so far this year, compared to 18 incidents (14 deaths and four injuries) in the same period in 2017 and 35 accidents (29 deaths and six injuries) in 2016, according to officials.

The Dubai Municipality has created a system that covers emergencies across seven public beaches in three areas, including Al Mamzar, Jumeirah, and Umm Suqeim.

“We have 100 professional lifeguards who are deployed on Dubai’s seven beaches,” WAM quoted Alia Abdul Rahim Al Harmoudi, director of the Environment Department at the municipality as saying.

“They operate from about 30 rescue stations with the latest first-aid equipment.”

Officials also confirmed that plans are on to have a sea ambulance at eight beaches by the end of this year to respond to medical emergencies.

“We are keen to provide safe beaches for people away from drowning incidents and other troubles,” said Major-General Ahmed bin Thani, assistant commander-in-chief of Ports Affairs.

“This campaign will help educate beachgoers about what to do when they go to the beaches and not to swim when there are high waves or bad weather.”

Police patrols will raise awareness about safe swimming at beaches through patrols and their social media platforms.

At most of the open beaches in Dubai, areas for swimming have been marked through floating buoys and ropes.

The campaign will also cover other “unacceptable behaviour such as theft and harassment of beach visitors,” the WAM report said.

Brigadier Ahmad Thani Bin Ghalita, head of Dubai Police Stations Directors’ Council, said they were hoping to achieve their goal of zero accidents during summer this year.