Sports Administration Promotes Water Safety, Hopes to Implement 'Prevention Over Rescue' Policy

(CNA reporter Chen Rong-chen, Taipei, July 2nd) The Ministry of Sport's Sports Administration, in response to the UN's "725 World Drowning Prevention Day," held a water safety promotion press conference today, hoping to implement the policy concept of "prevention over rescue" and effectively enhance the public's risk identification and water self-rescue abilities.

According to data from the National Fire Agency's "Fire Department Water Rescue Statistics" over the past 10 years, drowning in rivers and streams accounts for as high as 43% in Taiwan. Common reasons include Taiwan's steep terrain, rapid currents, and heavy rainfall that often causes rivers to swell within minutes.

Furthermore, through drowning data analysis, the proportion of drownings among the elderly aged 65 and above in Taiwan reaches 30%. This is related to the elderly often engaging in morning activities and fishing by the river, which can lead to physical decline, reduced balance, and weakened judgment of water conditions. Taiwan's unique terrain features like farm ponds and fish ponds, with their unclear boundaries and unpredictable depths, are areas and target groups that require focused promotion.

The Ministry of Sport's Sports Administration held a water safety promotion press conference today. Unlike past events limited to students on campus, this has been upgraded to a "National Water Safety" strategy covering all age groups, combined with the resources of county and city governments, with the aim of effectively enhancing the public's risk identification and water self-rescue abilities.

The Sports Administration pointed out that the public should establish the important concepts of "risk identification, prior preparation, self-rescue while awaiting aid, and safe rescue," strengthen risk awareness assessment, master self-rescue techniques, and possess the core knowledge of calmly awaiting rescue and not attempting blind rescues, to help the public improve their ability to respond to risks.

For the 2026 Water Safety Plan, the Sports Administration will conduct risk analysis based on the terrain and hydrological distribution of each county and city, promoting segmented and localized campaigns in six cities and counties: Taipei, Taichung, Penghu, Taitung, Tainan, and Taoyuan. These will offer local residents self-rescue and risk identification courses designed for different water environments. Cross-ministerial cooperation will continue in the future to implement the policy concept of "prevention over rescue." (Editor: Li Heng-shan) 0702

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