The Moldovan branch of the rescue service SMURD will offer free training to beach-goers to equip them with first aid skills to handle drowning victims. The first course will take place tomorrow at 11:00AM, at the beach of La Izvor Park in Chisinau

Liliana Puscasu, spokesperson for the Civil Protection Said, told IPN that everyone interested in invited. Professional lifeguards and paramedics will show the basic resuscitation maneuvers to be applied on drowning victims before the ambulance arrives.

“The first five-six minutes are critical in a drowning case, and if more people knew how to offer qualified first aid we certainly would have had fewer casualties”, said Liliana Puscasu.

From the beginning of this year, 77 people drowned across Moldova, including 13 children.