water safety campaign

Welcome to the #itonlytakes20seconds webpage. The #itonlytakes20seconds water safety campaign has been developed by Royal Life Saving Bahrain and the Bahrain Swimming Association to raise awareness of the importance of supervising children correctly when in, on or around water.

On this page, you will find lots of useful tips and information about how to prevent drownings and water related accidents. In addition, people aged 8 and above can register for 12 FREE swimming lessons this summer with our Swim for Safety program.

What takes only 20 seconds?

On average, 16 to 20 lives are lost to drowning each year in Bahrain. We believe that even one life lost, is one too many. Drowning prevention is everyone’s responsibility, and we must all work together to encourage everyone to enjoy swimming and recreation in water safely. 20 Seconds is all it can take for a child to drown in as little as a few inches of water. Many people are not aware that it can happen this quickly, which is why we want to draw attention to the importance of correctly supervising children in, on and around water at all times, whether you are at home, a swimming pool or even the beach.

Sponsored by Batelco

The #ItonlyTakes20seconds Campaign has been sponsored by Batelco, and we are incredibly grateful for their support in helping us draw attention to this important issue. As part of this sponsorship, Batelco will be funding 100 people aged 8 years and above to complete a 12 lesson swimming program called Swim for Safety. This internationally recognised program has been designed to teach complete beginners the fundamental survival swimming skills that could one day save their life, or the life of someone else. To register your interest in taking part in the Swim for Safety program this summer, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link and complete the registration form. Please note, registration closes on the 15th June 2021, after which 100 participants will be picked at random.

What is the Swim for Safety program?

The 12 lesson Swim for Safety program teaches participants the following key survival swimming skills;

* *A water survival sequence is defined as: Fall in entry (safely), face down, rotate on to back, float on back, scull and tread water for 1 minute, move to a point of safety to secure self, climb out (safely) to exit.

Do you know

Key Insight

Lack of water minded culture ìn Bahrain

70%

of the population never or rarely go swimming

4 out of 5

People in bahrain do not participate in any aquatic activities

Key Insight

Many people can't swim

50%

Of adults can't swim or can barely swim

95%

of children don't presently learn swimming at primary school

47%

of children can't swim

Key Insight

Overwhelming support for teaching swimming

91%

Of people agreed that all children should be taught basic swimming and water safety skills

86%

of people agreed that it is important for all bahrainis to have basic swimming and water safety skills

73%

of people agreed that swimming lessons should be compulsory for all primary school students

Key Insight

Overwhelming support for lifeguards and home pool fencing

84%

Of people agreed on the need for appropriately qualified beach lifeguards

82%

Of people agreed on the need for appropriately qualified pool lifeguards

88%

Of people agreed on the need for home pools to have a barrier to safeguard children

Key Insight

Need for community resilience through first aid and CPR

70%

Of people have no formal knowledge of cpr or first aid

87%

of people agreed that learning cpr and first aid would increase safety of people across bahrain

67%

of people were interested in completing formal training in cpr and first aid

Key Insight

Overwhelming support for principles of RLSB

80%

Of people agreed that developing lifesaving voluneerism will contribute to improving the national identity of bahrain

92%

Of people agreed it is important to have an organization in bahrain that focuses on water safety

How To Keep Children Safe While In And Around Water

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