According to van der Jacht, the first thing you should do is call 112. “If you are not a qualified lifeguard, do not jump into the water. Many people do this, but they can put themselves in danger. If the victim panics, they can grab you and drown you,” he warns.
“Jumping into water is often seen as a heroic act. This may be an unpleasant point of view for me to say, but I advise you not to do this unless you have experience. People don’t know how to catch a victim, and if it sticks to them, they don’t know how to break free,” the expert added.
He also says it’s important for witnesses to keep a close eye on where the victim was last seen: “If there’s something nearby, you can throw away something like a branch or a coil. If someone is nearby with a boat, they can ask the victim to sail over to help them ashore.
“Keep a close eye on where the victim was last seen so you can pinpoint the location once emergency services arrive.”
The lake, where the 27-year-old Romanian drowned on Sunday, is a nature reserve and there are no visible signs prohibiting bathing on its shores, but Dutch authorities say bathing in such water is not advisable.
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