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Surf zone hazards and injuries on beaches in SW France

Author

Listed:
  • Bruno Castelle

    (University of Bordeaux
    University of Bordeaux)

  • Rob Brander

    (UNSW Sydney)

  • Eric Tellier

    (INSERM
    University of Bordeaux
    CHU de Bordeaux, Pôle Urgences adultes, SAMU-SMUR)

  • Bruno Simonnet

    (CHU de Bordeaux, Pôle Urgences adultes, SAMU-SMUR)

  • Tim Scott

    (University of Plymouth)

  • Jak McCarroll

    (University of Plymouth)

  • Jean-Michel Campagne

    (Hospital Centre Côte Basque)

  • Thibault Cavailhes

    (University of Bordeaux
    University of Bordeaux)

  • Pierre Lechevrel

    (University of Bordeaux)

Abstract

Surf zone injuries (SZIs) are common worldwide, yet limited data are available for many geographical regions, including Europe. This study provides the first preliminary overview of SZIs along approximately 230 km of hazardous surf beaches in SW France during the summer season. A total of 2523 SZIs over 186 sample days during the summers of 2007, 2009 and 2015 were analysed. Documented injury data included date and time; beach location; flag colour; outside/inside of the bathing zone; age, gender, country and home postal code of the victim; activity; cause of injury; injury type and severity. Injuries sustained ranged from mild contusion to fatal drowning, including severe spinal injuries, wounds and luxation. While the most severe injuries (drowning) were related to rip currents, a large number of SZIs occurred as a result of shore-break waves (44.6%; n = 1125) and surfing activity (31.0%; n = 783) primarily inside and outside of lifeguard-patrolled bathing zones, respectively. Victims were primarily French living more than 40 km from the beach (75.9% of the reported addresses; n = 1729), although a substantial number of victims originated from Europe (14.7% of the addresses reported; n = 335), including the Netherlands (44.2%; n = 148), Germany (26.3%; n = 88) and Belgium (12.5%; n = 49). The predominant age group involved in the incidents was between 10 and 25 years (54.5%; n = 1376) followed by between 35 and 50 years (22.6%; n = 570), with the majority of SZIs involving males (69.6%, n = 1617). Despite the large predominance (74.1%; n = 33) of males involved in the most severe drowning incidents, all of which occurred outside the bathing zone, a surprisingly large proportion of females (48.0%; n = 133) experienced milder drowning incidents involving only minor to moderate respiratory impairment, peaking at 58.2% (n = 85) within the age group 10–25. The spine/cervical injury population is very young, with 58.5% (n = 313) within the age group 10–20. Specific injuries tended to occur in clusters (e.g. rip-current drowning or shore-break injury) with particular days prone to rip-current drowning or hazardous shore-break waves, suggesting the potential to predict the level of risk to beachgoers based on basic weather and marine conditions. This study calls for increased social-based beach safety research in France and the development of more effective public awareness campaigns to highlight the surf zone hazards, even within a supervised bathing zone. These campaigns should be targeted towards young males and females, in order to reduce the number of injuries and drownings occurring on beaches in SW France.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Castelle & Rob Brander & Eric Tellier & Bruno Simonnet & Tim Scott & Jak McCarroll & Jean-Michel Campagne & Thibault Cavailhes & Pierre Lechevrel, 2018. "Surf zone hazards and injuries on beaches in SW France," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 93(3), pages 1317-1335, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:93:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-018-3354-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-018-3354-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Isabel Arozarena & Chris Houser & Alejandro Echeverria & Christian Brannstrom, 2015. "The rip current hazard in Costa Rica," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 77(2), pages 753-768, June.
    2. Christian Brannstrom & Sarah Trimble & Anna Santos & Heather Brown & Chris Houser, 2014. "Perception of the rip current hazard on Galveston Island and North Padre Island, Texas, USA," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 72(2), pages 1123-1138, June.
    3. Ben R. Van Leeuwen & R. Jak McCarroll & Robert W. Brander & Ian L. Turner & Hannah E. Power & Anthony J. Bradstreet, 2016. "Examining rip current escape strategies in non-traditional beach morphologies," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 145-165, March.
    4. R. McCarroll & Robert Brander & Jamie MacMahan & Ian Turner & Ad Reniers & Jenna Brown & Anthony Bradstreet & Shauna Sherker, 2014. "Evaluation of swimmer-based rip current escape strategies," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 71(3), pages 1821-1846, April.
    5. Ben Van Leeuwen & R. McCarroll & Robert Brander & Ian Turner & Hannah Power & Anthony Bradstreet, 2016. "Examining rip current escape strategies in non-traditional beach morphologies," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 145-165, March.
    6. Jack A. Puleo & Katie Hutschenreuter & Paul Cowan & Wendy Carey & Michelle Arford-Granholm & Kimberly K. McKenna, 2016. "Delaware surf zone injuries and associated environmental conditions," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(2), pages 845-867, March.
    7. Nicole Caldwell & Chris Houser & Klaus Meyer-Arendt, 2013. "Ability of beach users to identify rip currents at Pensacola Beach, Florida," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 68(2), pages 1041-1056, September.
    8. McKay, Campbell & Brander, Robert W. & Goff, James, 2014. "Putting tourists in harms way – Coastal tourist parks and hazardous unpatrolled surf beaches in New South Wales, Australia," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 71-84.
    9. Jack Puleo & Katie Hutschenreuter & Paul Cowan & Wendy Carey & Michelle Arford-Granholm & Kimberly McKenna, 2016. "Delaware surf zone injuries and associated environmental conditions," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(2), pages 845-867, March.
    10. Baris Barlas & Serdar Beji, 2016. "Rip current fatalities on the Black Sea beaches of Istanbul and effects of cultural aspects in shaping the incidents," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(2), pages 811-821, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Damian Morgan & Joan Ozanne-Smith, 2019. "A configural model of expert judgement as a preliminary epidemiological study of injury problems: An application to drowning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, October.
    2. William Koon & Robert W Brander & Gregory Dusek & Bruno Castelle & Jasmin C Lawes, 2023. "Relationships between the tide and fatal drowning at surf beaches in New South Wales, Australia: Implications for coastal safety management and practice," Post-Print hal-04266306, HAL.
    3. Sabri Alkan & Uğur Karadurmuş, 2023. "Risk assessment of natural and other hazard factors on drowning incidents in Turkey," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 118(3), pages 2459-2475, September.
    4. Ch Venkateswarlu & V. V. Arun Kumar Surisetty & Ankit Somani & B. Gireesh & C. V. Naidu, 2023. "Surf zone-related drownings and injuries based on lifeguard records in Goa beaches (2008–2020)," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(1), pages 313-337, May.

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