Red Cross to the rescue

RED CROSS lifesavers on Javea’s beaches were called on for assistance 4,485 times between Easter and October 12.
The 50 lifesavers allocated to the La Grava, Benissero, Arenal, Portitxol and Granadella beaches also used two boats, a motorcycle, two ambulances and a rapid intervention vehicle during 157 rescue operations, revealed Javea’s Beaches councillor Toni Miragall.
These involved swimmers in difficulties but, above all, inexperienced kayakers and canoeists as well as several bigger craft that had begun to sink.
Not all of the emergencies occurred in the sea as there were “numerous occasions” when the Red Cross had to help people who fell or slipped on rocks, particularly in coves not covered by the lifesaving service.
Nineteen people – not all of them children – managed to get lost on Javea’s beaches while ambulances were needed on 110 occasions, taking 68 people to hospital.
It was a “complicated” season with large numbers of visitors and residents on both beaches and along the coast, said Miragall, who thanked the Red Cross team for a response that was both professional and caring.