Drowning

Edit
When I posted this picture I thought that these were lifebelt stands with the lifebelts missing. I was wrong. These are boxes and the lifebelts are (or should be) inside. They open using a small catch at the bottom.

When I realised my mistake I was going to delete this image and comments but thought it would be more use if other people learned, as I now have, that in an emergency the solution is not to run to the next box but to find that small catch. As quickly as possible since I gather that it can take only two to three minutes for fresh water in human lungs to lead to cardiac arrest.

What prompted the images in the first place was thinking about the people - about one a year, often teenagers - who drown in Oxford's many waterways: two rivers, various lengths of canal and lots of streams and brooks. I looked up 15 years of newspaper reports about local drownings. Apart from suicides the most common causes are adolescent exuberance or bravado and adult over-consumption of alcohol or drugs.

At least I now know what to do if I ever happen to be close enough to help.