Will there be Enough Lifeguards on the Bulgarian Beaches this Summer?

More than 4500 lifeguards for the beaches and open waters and about 10,000 pool rescuers have been trained over the last ten years, said Anton Nalbantov, director of the Bulgarian Red Cross Waterway Service at the opening of the traditional Water Rescue Week. He added that 1300 lifeguards are needed for the beach in Bulgaria. The problem is not the lack of water rescuers but the lack of good working conditions, Nalbantov pointed out.
 
An average of between 120 and 130 people per year die in water accidents in Bulgaria, of which under the age of 17 are between 10 and 15. 

106 people died in 2017 and 3651 were rescued. The most vulnerable are children, but the highest number of victims - about two-thirds - are mostly men between the ages of 50 and 60, Anton Nalbantov said.
 
He explained that in this age group, the cause is often not mechanical drowning, but a heart attack or stroke after drinking alcohol, sun exposure and sudden immersion in cool water.
 
The number of children killed in water incidents has decreased significantly. The BRC attributes it to the preventive work and the training that takes place in more and more schools and kindergartens.

Most incidents are in unprotected water basins and on the Danube.

That is why the rescuers urge people at the beginning of each summer season to visit guarded beaches.