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CONFERENCE 2012
The Lifesaving Foundation will host a lifesaving conference in Dublin, Ireland from Thursday 27th to Saturday 29th September 2012. Download Conference Programme
2011 IRELAND MEDAL
The 2011 Ireland Medal has been awarded to Professor Linda Quan MD (USA) for her work in the fields of drowning prevention and resuscitation.
Lifesaving Foundation membership is open to any adult interested in supporting its aim and projects. The Foundation is a company limited by guarantee (€2.00 per member) without a share capital.
Membership Form
Membership Benefits
HONOURS / AWARDS RECEIVED
The Lifesaving Foundation and its members have been the recipients of a number of international awards and honours.
What We Do
SUICIDE BY DROWNING
The Foundation promotes research into suicide by drowning in Ireland with a focus on preventing entry to water and the rescue of drowning casualties. The Foundation is working with leading suicide rescue organisations Dublin Fire Brigade Water Rescue Unit and Foyle Search and Rescue in Derry on this tragic matter and has published a number of research papers on suicide by drowning.
If you wish to view suicide by drowning documents click on publications.
WATER SAFETY INFORMATION
Although much literature is available on water safety most of it is of a general nature. The Foundation identifies areas of risk where specific safety information and advice is needed and produces leaflets for public use. Leaflets produced include Foreign Holiday Water Safety and Survival Floating.
PERSONAL SURVIVAL
In Ireland (and elsewhere) about a half of those who drown can swim yet they cannot save themselves from drowning when they need to. The Foundation is conducting research into what is lacking in available swimming instruction programmes that leads to such a tragic situation. The Foundation has published a number of documents (e.g. Float – Don’t Swim) in this area and is supporting an international research project with a view to greatly improving this situation.
FEMALE SWIMMING INSTRUCTION
Females are not taught to swim for cultural reasons in many regions of the world. The Foundation has supported the Women’s Swimming Project in Sri Lanka where mothers are taught to swim in private classes and are then taught how to teach their own and neighbours children to swim in local swimming holes. The majority of those who drowned in the recent tsunami were non-swimmer females. This is a very successful project and is being seen as a model for other similar areas worldwide.
LIFEGUARD TRAINING PROJECT
Since 2005 the Foundation has financially supported the training of over 500 young unemployed swimmers as professional lifeguards to meet local safety needs in Africa and Asia. The project is based in Soweto, South Africa. This project not only gives a vocational qualification to unemployed youths and boosts tourism in developing areas but also by the training provided places trained first aiders in communities that often lack any medical services. The majority of those trained are in full-time employment as lifeguards.
The charity is based in Ireland.