- The first stage includes a mobile app, an agreement with the Red Cross, and an advertising campaign
A mobile app to monitor waves and tides, an agreement to hire lifeguards, and a digital advertising campaign are part of the first stage of the strategy announced on Wednesday by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) to prevent drowning on beaches.
The strategy consists of coordination of inter-institutional efforts, since ICT understands that risk management is a task that must involve a variety of social, academic and political actors.
The app "MIOCIMAR" (available in Play Store for Android or App Store for iOS) in English and Spanish contains seven-day forecasts of surf currents, wave forecasts and sea conditions. These forecasts are divided into categories with colors (green, yellow and red) that indicate the levels of caution that swimmers should exercise. The forecasts are updated every six hours.
ICT partnered with the University of Costa Rica (UCR) for the launch in order to boost the reach of MIOCIMAR version 3.0, developed by IMACTUS, a Costa Rican company. This app will be linked with the ICT’s tourism security app, to be announced in June.
“This is a tool that makes the practice of reviewing sea conditions from cell phones easier, taking preventive information into the 21st century”, declared the Minister of Tourism, María Amalia Revelo.
“This alliance between two institutions unites their efforts around a common theme: the prevention of coastal marine threats. The beauty our beaches and seas offer does not negate the fact that domestic and foreign tourists are exposed to risks when visiting beaches or enjoying walks along the sea. Information on marine conditions is within reach for everyone, for free and through an easily accessible mobile app (MIOCIMAR)," said Rodney Mora, coordinator of the Oceanographic Information Unit (MIO) of the Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology (CIMAR) at UCR.
Agreement with the Red Cross
This Wednesday, ICT and the Costa Rican Red Cross signed an agreement for ₡150 million that will allow at least 20 lifeguards to be hired in the second half of 2019 for three beaches with high incidences of drowning: Manuel Antonio, Ballena and Cocles-Manzanillo.
The objective of the agreement is to improve the capacity to respond to incidents at sea involving swimmers.
“Years of experience in previous agreements with the Red Cross have confirmed their experience and commitment to addressing this issue”, stressed the Tourism Minister.
“We are joining forces in a comprehensive way to prevent emergencies and to respond to them when they occur. The cooperative relationship between the Red Cross and the ICT has existed for many years; we have been working together since 2015 to strengthen the emergency response capacity on beaches, and this has increased awareness of the importance of hard work and teamwork to manage risk and reduce mortality rates," said Glauco Quesada, President of the Red Cross.
In addition, the ICT will include US$500,000 (half a million dollars) per year in its budget for 2020, 2021, and 2022 in order to establish a lifeguard program on the most dangerous beaches in the country, which will be defined by statistics from the Judicial Investigation Organization, academic studies, the experience of the Red Cross, and piecemeal efforts of local governments to find a solution to this issue. In the next three years, the ICT will invest a total of US$1.5 million to hire lifeguards.
Let’s get back to shore safely
The third effort announced by ICT this morning is a digital advertising campaign that aims to protect lives by calling attention to safety and prevention, particularly before Holy Week when there is an increased influx of visitors on the beaches.
An audiovisual piece that captured the testimony of Pablo Madrigal, who was seconds away from drowning in Playa Grande, Guanacaste last January, is part of the campaign that will last from today until the end of July, with distribution on digital platforms. The campaign will include invitations to download the MIOCIMAR app on fences near beaches, in buses, and in print media.
