-Friday, December 20, 2019-




By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Vice President Marvin Rodríguez Thursday signed Law No. 9780 entitled "Implementation of lifeguard units on national beaches."

The law creates the National Lifeguard Unit as well as establishes the National Commission for the Prevention and Attention of Drowning to give security and protect to the life and the integrity of those who vacation on the coasts.

The signing ceremony took place in the Presidential House, with the presence of Sharon Day, the U.S. ambassador, and María Amalia Revelo, the minister of Tourism, among other authorities.  Rodríguez was acting as president because President Carlos Alvarado is traveling.

"As the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica, our priority is the protection of the U.S. citizens always, so we celebrate the signing of the law to create the National Lifeguard Unit," said the embassy on its social networks. "We congratulate the Costa Rican authorities for this great step towards the life and safety of all tourists and Costa Ricans who visit the beautiful beaches of this country every day."

The law creates the National Commission for the Prevention and Attention of Drowning as a technical body as part of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute. The members of the commission will be representatives of the ministries of Tourism, Security and Health, as well as the Red Cross, the National Chamber of Tourism and coastal municipalities.

The law decrees the general guidelines for the prevention and attention of accidents by drowning, as well as ranks national beaches according to its level of danger.

Also, the law sets the conditions, equipment and minimum characteristics that lifeguard units must have and technical criteria to determine which beaches require these lifeguard units.

The National Lifeguard Unit is key in the prevention of water accidents, said Jim Batres of the Costa Rican Red Cross.

According to Batres from August to November, 21,140 preventive actions have been carried out on five beaches in the country.

In April, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute endorsed an agreement with the Red Cross to improve the capacity of responding to emergencies at beaches and sea.

The agreement included an investment of about $265,400 to hire 20 certified lifeguards for six months, from August 2019 to February 2020, who would be watching the beaches of Manuel Antonio in Quepos, Ballena in the southern area and Cocles in Limón.

These are the beaches with the greatest visitors and as well as with the more cases of death by drowning, the institute said.

Also, the institute added $1,539,324 as extra cooperation to increase this lifeguard program over the next three years. The budget covers the expenses for installing high-risk warning signs for dangerous currents on 100 beaches throughout the country.

In June, the institute and the University of Costa Rica, developed the MIOCIMAR application to keep tourists informed on the real-time state of the tides, and rip currents. The application can be accessed on Miocimar.ucr website.








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