CHENNAI: The Marina could well be the setting of an all new ‘Baywatch’ with the crowded beach set to get its first First Aid post with lifeguards and doctors.
St John Ambulance India, Tamil Nadu, Beach 2014 project, launched in collaboration with the Coastal Security Group, Chennai Corporation and Southern Railway Brigade on Saturday, is claimed to be a first-of-its-kind project that will set up a First Aid/Lifeguard station on the Marina.
While the vacations see many accidents on the Chennai’s most popular beach, the new First Aid station will help put trained personnel right on the spot.
“These personnel will be on site from 4 pm to 8 pm — the time when the beach gets most crowded and accidents are most likely to happen,” said Dr D Vadivel Mugundhan, chairman of St John Ambulance, Tamil Nadu.
The First Aid station is in a tie-up with the nearest hospital on the beach area.
St John Ambulance plans to extend the project to other popular seaside tourist destinations including Mamallapuram, Nagapattinam, Tiruchendur, Rameswaram and Kanyakumari, said Dr Mugundhan.
Governor K Rosaiah was emphatic while expressing his approval for the project and said that he was confident that the project will save lives.
“I am sure this will help save many lives and create awareness to help prevent all sorts of accidents. The team work by St John Ambulance and Coastal Security Group deserves appreciation. I am happy that it is the first of its kind in our country and has been taken as a model project,” he said, while launching the project at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday.