A SEVEN-YEAR old boy drowned in a pond at Vichit, near Rawai in Phuket's south, about 11am on Saturday. A young friend left him alone, playing in the pond.
The drowned boy was named as Kittipong Janmanee, who lived nearby. Thai media outlets published photographs of the distraught parents cradling the boy in their arms.
Khun Kittipong's death reinforces the need for swimming lessons and knowledge about rescue and revival techniques on Phuket. More than one drowning a week occurred on Phuket in 2009, nearly all of them avoidable deaths.
There may not be any professional trained lifeguards on Phuket's beaches yet, but signs are appearing of an encouraging change in rescue culture.
Bangkok Phuket Hospital has just begun a year-long campaign to train more than 2000 senior Phuket high school students in how to do cpr (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
It's a technique that has many applications but on a beach holiday island, it's essential to help save people from drowning, or from everyday disasters.
Without cpr being performed as soon as people are pulled from the water, victims who have been ''saved'' can die anyway.
And if the swimmers appear dead when pulled from the water, cpr can bring them back to life again.
Dr Sopon Krisanarungson, an interventional cardiologist, set up the hospital's heart centre six years ago to improve standards on the island (30 percent of angioplasty cases are among tourists).
Citizen CPR was launched for HM The King's 80th birthday, training 10,000 people nationwide in cpr, including 900 in the Andaman region.
''One Belgian tourist had a heart attack, on a diving trip, 20 metres down,'' Dr Sopon said. ''The tour guide brought the patient up, and five metres down he fell unconscious.
''His wife knew cpr and so did his daughter, and they saved his life. Within 10 days, the patient could walk and go back home. We have many examples like this.''
Grateful patients have donated some money, and the mannequins for training have been supplied, along with booklets about the cpr technique.
''We have a lot of support from many organisations,'' Dr Sopon said. Groups who have been trained in the past, including eight resorts, have also provided trainers for the program.
Drinking water for the students would be a help, though.
The project has the support of HM The Queen and a Privy Councillor came to launch it on Phuket. The course takes three hours and about 16 nurses and trainers are involved with each session.
Trainees are taught how to save lives in cases of electrocution, asphyxiation, and other life and death situations.
''It's very important for people to know that the victims need to be treated rapidly,'' he said. ''People who learn cpr can help anyone, anywhere, any time.
''Heart attacks and other life-threatening incidents can happen without warning.''
Dr Sopon said that a heart attack while swimming could complicate the situation. With a conventional drowning, it was essential to start cpr within four minutes to avoid permanent brain damage.
''A Japanese man staying at a hotel in Patong had a five-year-old son who was born in the water, but when the boy came down an adult slider and hit the water, the guard had to perform cpr.
''There was an OTOP fair in Krabi and the visitors from other provinces went snorkelling at Phi Phi. But the head of the project was not good at swimming and needed cpr. It took two days for him to recover.
''In both cases, cpr helped to save lives.''
Phuket will be the first province to have all senior high school students trained in cpr.
More good work is also being done by the Phuket Lifeguard Club, which helped to train 546 children at seven Phuket beaches in 2009 and is preparing to train more in 2010.
It is to be hoped that the day is coming when drownings will be an extremely rare event on Phuket.
Help! Phuket Lifeguard System Needs RescuingThe drowned boy was named as Kittipong Janmanee, who lived nearby. Thai media outlets published photographs of the distraught parents cradling the boy in their arms.
Khun Kittipong's death reinforces the need for swimming lessons and knowledge about rescue and revival techniques on Phuket. More than one drowning a week occurred on Phuket in 2009, nearly all of them avoidable deaths.
There may not be any professional trained lifeguards on Phuket's beaches yet, but signs are appearing of an encouraging change in rescue culture.
Bangkok Phuket Hospital has just begun a year-long campaign to train more than 2000 senior Phuket high school students in how to do cpr (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
It's a technique that has many applications but on a beach holiday island, it's essential to help save people from drowning, or from everyday disasters.
Without cpr being performed as soon as people are pulled from the water, victims who have been ''saved'' can die anyway.
And if the swimmers appear dead when pulled from the water, cpr can bring them back to life again.
Dr Sopon Krisanarungson, an interventional cardiologist, set up the hospital's heart centre six years ago to improve standards on the island (30 percent of angioplasty cases are among tourists).
Citizen CPR was launched for HM The King's 80th birthday, training 10,000 people nationwide in cpr, including 900 in the Andaman region.
''One Belgian tourist had a heart attack, on a diving trip, 20 metres down,'' Dr Sopon said. ''The tour guide brought the patient up, and five metres down he fell unconscious.
''His wife knew cpr and so did his daughter, and they saved his life. Within 10 days, the patient could walk and go back home. We have many examples like this.''
Grateful patients have donated some money, and the mannequins for training have been supplied, along with booklets about the cpr technique.
''We have a lot of support from many organisations,'' Dr Sopon said. Groups who have been trained in the past, including eight resorts, have also provided trainers for the program.
Drinking water for the students would be a help, though.
The project has the support of HM The Queen and a Privy Councillor came to launch it on Phuket. The course takes three hours and about 16 nurses and trainers are involved with each session.
Trainees are taught how to save lives in cases of electrocution, asphyxiation, and other life and death situations.
''It's very important for people to know that the victims need to be treated rapidly,'' he said. ''People who learn cpr can help anyone, anywhere, any time.
''Heart attacks and other life-threatening incidents can happen without warning.''
Dr Sopon said that a heart attack while swimming could complicate the situation. With a conventional drowning, it was essential to start cpr within four minutes to avoid permanent brain damage.
''A Japanese man staying at a hotel in Patong had a five-year-old son who was born in the water, but when the boy came down an adult slider and hit the water, the guard had to perform cpr.
''There was an OTOP fair in Krabi and the visitors from other provinces went snorkelling at Phi Phi. But the head of the project was not good at swimming and needed cpr. It took two days for him to recover.
''In both cases, cpr helped to save lives.''
Phuket will be the first province to have all senior high school students trained in cpr.
More good work is also being done by the Phuket Lifeguard Club, which helped to train 546 children at seven Phuket beaches in 2009 and is preparing to train more in 2010.
It is to be hoped that the day is coming when drownings will be an extremely rare event on Phuket.
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