It is not just the Adriatic which is keeping Croatia’s lifeguards busy.
Even though the majority of swimmers are at the Adriatic beaches, lifeguards in Zagreb are busy as well. Swimmers on the Jarun and Bundek lakes are quite irresponsible, and this year lifeguards have more work than usual because of drunk visitors. Alcohol is a growing problem and it was a reason for as much as one quarter of lifeguard interventions. Alcohol was also the cause of the drowning that happened last Sunday, reports Vecernji List on August 15, 2015.
“During the summer season, we have had 144 interventions. Roughly half of them are related to various cuts and lacerations, while 34 interventions were due to alcohol. It is prohibited to drink alcohol on the beach, but people sit down, drink all day and then go into the water. There are a lot of people who are irresponsible to themselves and to their families. Most problems with intoxicated people happen at the end of operating hours or even later. For example, the other day a man on a bicycle crashed into the water, and we also had a serious fight. One person smashed a bottle on the head of another visitor”, said Ana Kunštek, head of Zagreb lifeguard service.
Lifeguards were also shocked by a drunken swimmer who started drowning. After he was pulled out of the water and provided with medical attention, he returned to the beach and continued drinking. There are also parents who do not take care of their children. A child went to a depth of ten meters and started drowning. Lifeguards have managed to save the child, but parents were nowhere to be seen.
During the summer season, Jarun and Bundek have been visited by 43,000 swimmers, so it is to be expected that there are many problems and interventions. “We sometimes have to save tourists as well. They usually stay in the sun and then enter the water. Or they try to swim to the Island of Love and realize that it is too far”, said Kunštek adding that the problem on Bundek lake are sudden changes in depths of the lake.
Lifeguard service has 45 members. Depending on the day of the week and other factors, there are between 3 and 6 lifeguards working on the Bundek lake and between 16 and 30 on the Jarun lake.
