THE dangers of jumping in to cold water were brought to life as fire crews joined the RNLI to practice rescuing a casualty from Weymouth Harbour.

Weymouth's Technical Rescue team undertook the joint exercise with RNLI as part of Chief Fire Officers Association's (CFOA) drowning prevention and water safety week.

The campaign is focused on raising awareness of cold water shock, which causes a number of fatalities every year. Young people, even those who are strong swimmers, are not always aware of the effect that shock can have on their ability to swim in open water.

Fire and Rescue services are encouraging young people aged 16 to 30 to ‘Tell a Friend. Save a Friend,’ as even on a warm day, the temperature of the water in a reservoir, quarry or lake can remain very cold and the shock of cold water creates a physical response that can make it more difficult to swim, and may cause death.

Simon Dennett, district commander for Weymouth and Portland fire stations, was at the Weymouth demonstration.

He said: "Our joint exercise is about promoting the dangers of entering cold water and of cold water shock. There have been 167 deaths in the country in the last year relating to this, and 22 of them have been in harbours like the one here in Weymouth.

"A lot of people jump from rocks without knowing how cold the water actually is. At this time of year the water is only eight or nine degrees.

"Cold water shock is a physical response that can not only affect your breathing, but will reduce your muscle ability and can even lead to a heart attack."

At Weymouth Harbour, teams worked together to simulate rescuing a casualty from the water and demonstrated the variety of skills they use to ensure the casualty gets to safety.

The 'casualty' was first thrown a life buoy before awaiting rescue from the technical rescue team, which got her out of the cold water while they awaited further assistance from the RNLI.

As part of the week, the CFOA and fire and rescue services will be showing some of hard-hitting images created by students- one if which compares the effects of cold water shock to being wrapped in clingfilm.

Malcolm Wright, lifeboat operations manager, said: "The exercise tonight has been about demonstrating the use of everybody's skills to the best advantage of the casualty to ensure they get to safety."

CFOA’s water safety lead, Dawn Whittaker, warned: "While reservoirs, lakes, rivers and other inland water may look safe and inviting, particularly on a warm day, there are hidden dangers below the surface that could make you ill, hurt you, and, at worst, could kill you."