The French Rescue and First Aid Federation explains how to behave if you are caught in a baïne and advises in particular to “stay calm, save your efforts, do not fight against the current”.
Swimming is strongly discouraged, Sunday July 2 and Monday July 3, on the beaches of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde and Charente-Maritime because of the high risk of formation of baïnes, announced the prefecture of the Nouvelle- Aquitaine. These seemingly innocuous natural pools are responsible for several drownings in France every year. The baïnes form between the beach and a sandbank but their strong currents can quickly drag them out to sea.
In case of baths, it is necessary “remain calm, save effort, do not fight against the current”advises, on franceinfo Sunday, Christian Poutriquet, vice-president of the French Federation of rescue and first aid, of which he is the president of the training commission.
franceinfo: What is the best behavior to adopt in case of bathing?
Christian Poutriquet: Before falling into the baïne, people are often advised, when they go to the wild coast, to keep water up to their knees and especially not to go up to their shoulders because the heights of the waves are different. . People can be lifted and swept out to sea if they already have water above their shoulders and are not very good swimmers.
Then, when you’re in a baïne, it’s impressive because you’re immediately swept out to sea. You have to stay calm, very calm. You have to wait and above all you have to economize your efforts. Do not fight against the current, especially do not try to come back against the current. We let ourselves be carried out to sea, sometimes after the bar of the waves. And then we wave. We try to return to the coast by swimming diagonally.
“But the most important thing is always to signal where you are going, before you go in the water, to someone who stays on land. Whether it’s on the beach or in a boat, or even in the mountains, you always tell your loved ones of the route you are going to take.”
Christian Poutriquet, Vice-President of the French Rescue and First Aid Federationat franceinfo
And if we see someone drowning, we call 112?
We call 112. If there are surfers in the area, kayakers or boats, we can call them, but we are not going to get in the water to cause another accident.
How do tubs work?
The baïnes are water holes. Families like to come and let the children play. There is a little water. These are natural pools that form under the effect of wind, swell, current and can move and are not always in the same place depending on the tidal coefficient. They become dangerous when the tide rises and covers them since these water holes disappear.
These are water holes that can sometimes be significant, up to 50 cm. If you swim right next to it, if you have your foot right next to it and move sideways, you fall into the hole and suddenly lose your footing. So it’s actually underwater obstacles that we don’t see. At rising tide, they are important because the sea covers everything. But the greatest danger is still at low tide.
Can we spot these baïnes from the beach?
Yes, quite often these are relatively quiet areas. It moves all around, there are small waves. The ideal is to spot them at low tide and stay away.