TY - JOUR
T1 - Approaches for beach safety and education in Ghana
T2 - A case study for developing countries with a surf coast
AU - Hammerton, Cara E.
AU - Brander, Robert W.
AU - Dawe, Nicholas
AU - Riddington, Craig
AU - Engel, Roger
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Beach drowning in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as the western African nation of Ghana, is a poorly understood problem. A physical site assessment of the Ghana coast was undertaken to determine beach types, hazards, and the potential for implementing community surf education and lifeguarding services. A questionnaire survey was administered to 346 participants in coastal regions providing information related to beach drowning. Results demonstrated that a significant number of drownings occur on this wave-dominated coastline, particularly on public holidays, with 82% of participants knowing someone who had drowned. Ignorance of the rip current hazard was evident with 37% of participants, particularly students, indicating they would swim in a hazardous rip current location. The majority of participants (57%) indicated they would seek help when they saw someone in a dangerous situation. These results indicate a strong need for community beach safety education and lifeguard services in Ghana
AB - Beach drowning in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as the western African nation of Ghana, is a poorly understood problem. A physical site assessment of the Ghana coast was undertaken to determine beach types, hazards, and the potential for implementing community surf education and lifeguarding services. A questionnaire survey was administered to 346 participants in coastal regions providing information related to beach drowning. Results demonstrated that a significant number of drownings occur on this wave-dominated coastline, particularly on public holidays, with 82% of participants knowing someone who had drowned. Ignorance of the rip current hazard was evident with 37% of participants, particularly students, indicating they would swim in a hazardous rip current location. The majority of participants (57%) indicated they would seek help when they saw someone in a dangerous situation. These results indicate a strong need for community beach safety education and lifeguard services in Ghana
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84882982436&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84882982436
VL - 7
SP - 254
EP - 265
JO - International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education
JF - International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education
SN - 1932-9997
IS - 3
ER -