RoSPA’s Water Safety Development Manager, Emma Dudley, introduces new materials created to raise awareness of the dangers of tombstoning.

Water Safety Scotland (WSS), through partnership work between RoSPA and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), has created a new Tombstoning Workshop PowerPoint Resource to explain the dangers of taking part in the activity of tombstoning through the use of WSS’s Water Safety Code.

Tombstoning is an activity which involves individuals jumping into water from height; so-called because of the way a person falls and plunges into deep water, similar to the way a stone would. Over recent years, this activity has gained traction due to social media which has resulted in several people, mainly young people, being seriously injured or tragically losing their lives.

RoSPA, along with help from the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), presented the Tombstoning Workshop PowerPoint Resource to a focus group of seven young people, between the ages of 15-18, from the Rural and Urban Training Scheme (RUTS) charity.

The group were asked to give their opinions and suggestions on what could be improved in the existing resource or if there was a different form of resource that they believe would work better for their age group. The aim of the session was to understand the opinions of those within an age group most associated with tombstoning.

The main finding of the focus group was that the existing PowerPoint was beneficial but would be improved with a video from a first responder and an accompanying leaflet to be taken home after the presentation.

A leaflet to match the information in the resource was created and WSS, through RoSPA and His Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG), created a video with a first responder to detail how a coastal tombstoning rescue is undertaken.

The full Tombstoning Workshop Resource is now freely available to download on the Water Safety Scotland website.
 

Emma Dudley is RoSPA’s Water Safety Development Manager.