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DLRG helpers take a swimmer out of the water to demonstrate
Photo: Roland Weihrauch / dpa
According to their own figures, lifeguards from the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) saved 1,655 lives last year.
That is almost twice as many as in 2020, when 901 people were rescued.
"2021 was a busy year overall, but a successful one for the DLRG," said association president Ute Vogt.
"Our rescuers were often on hand and made an important contribution to the fact that fewer people drowned in Germany." According to DLRG information from March, at least 299 people died in swimming accidents last year - and with it fewer than in over 20 years.
The water rescuers were extremely challenged on the night of July 14th to 15th, 2022 during the devastating flood and flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
The emergency services rescued a particularly large number of people there.
This was also reflected in the balance sheet: In both federal states together, there were 641 lives saved.
"What our emergency services and all the other helpers did that night deserves the utmost respect," said the head of the DLRG state association North Rhine, Stefan Albrecht.
"It was the most extensive operation in the history of our national association."
Overall, according to the DLRG, it was deployed in 76,664 cases last year - almost three times as often as in the previous year, when there were 24,747 deployments.
According to this, 40,833 medical aids were among the operations in 2021.
According to the annual balance sheet, there were also 225 missions in which animals were helped.
In 775 cases, the helpers also averted environmental hazards and secured property such as water sports equipment in 3066, it said.
According to the association, 45,000 people were deployed at 1,196 open water bodies and in 1,289 swimming pools for safety on and in the water.
At the 86 DLRG stations on the North Sea and Baltic Sea alone, over 4,580 volunteer rescuers were deployed in the summer.
"Learning to swim saves lives"
With a number of initiatives last summer, the DLRG tried to catch up on what was lost due to the pandemic.
The summer campaign that was launched helped to make more people safe swimmers.
In addition to the regular offer, around 500 local groups held additional courses with 24,000 participants, it said.
The overall balance for 2021: A total of 36,368 seahorse tests were taken (2020: 14,566), plus 38,112 swimming badges (2020: 23,453).
Nevertheless, the pre-pandemic level is "far from being reached," says Vogt.
This year there is another swimming campaign.
Vogt called on the federal, state and local governments to draw up and implement a bathroom requirement plan.
The swimming pools must be stopped dying: "A needs-based design of the pool infrastructure will cost billions, but the safety of the people should be worth it to us.
Swimming is a cultural asset and learning to swim saves lives.«
According to the information, the number of DLRG members fell slightly in 2021, by 0.8 percent compared to 2020, but less than in the period before (-4.1 percent).
The DLRG had a total of 547,189 members.
Almost half of them are children and young people up to the age of 18.
Positive: The association recorded an increase in children up to the age of ten.
wit/dpa/AFP