A meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Branch of RGOO OSDOD was held at the Lepel Rescue Station.

A meeting of the Vitebsk region branch of the RNPO "OSVOD" (Republican Nature Protection Society "Water Safety") was held at the Lepel rescue station on the city beach, bringing together OSVOD representatives from various parts of the northern region.

A meeting of the Vitebsk region branch of the RNPO "OSVOD" was held at the Lepel rescue station on the city beach, bringing together OSVOD representatives from various parts of the northern region.

The meeting was opened by the chairman of the regional OSVOD organization, Alexander Myasoedov, who informed the attendees about the Lepel station and the waters of Lake Lepel. It was noted that the modern station building has been operational since March 22, 2023, and that the rescuers are fully prepared for the swimming season.
Subsequently, issues concerning the installation of video surveillance cameras on beaches and other operational matters were discussed with a representative of Beltelecom.
The head of the diving and rescue service of the regional organization, Vyacheslav Gorin, spoke about the preparations for the swimming season.
The preparation and passing of the C-2 task and rescuer-diver standards were conducted by diving specialist Oleg Rubanik. Station employees had to think hard to pass the theoretical exam. However, the day was not limited to theory alone – there were also practical dives by the divers.
The readiness of the rescue stations for the swimming season was reported at the meeting by the station managers. Attention was drawn to occupational safety for employees during the summer period and documentation processing.
A pleasant moment of the event was the presentation by the chairman of the regional organization, Alexander Myasoedov, of a certificate of merit for fruitful work and in connection with his anniversary to the head of the Lepel rescue station, Igor Mikhno.
It is worth noting that today OSVOD carries out tasks such as rescuing and protecting people's lives on the waters of the republic in the areas of operation of rescue stations and posts, organizes and conducts explanatory work among the population on preventing accidents on the water, trains the population in rescue techniques and first aid for persons in distress on the water, and other tasks.
As the meeting participants noted, such meetings provide an opportunity to exchange experience and compare their work with that of others. But the main common task is the prevention of accidents on water bodies.
Regarding statistics, in 2023, 65 people drowned in the Vitebsk region, in 2015 – 79 people, and in 2010 – 224. The waterloggedness of the territory

The Republic of Belarus is as follows: Vitebsk region – 31 percent, Minsk region – 20 percent, Gomel region – 18, Brest region – 17, Grodno and Mogilev regions – 7 percent each.
The main reasons for drowning remain the violation of safety rules during swimming, abuse of alcoholic beverages, as well as parents' inattention to their children.
In conclusion, we would like to thank the large team of water rescuers in our country: the achievements of the OSVOD workers during this long period already include hundreds of thousands of lives saved. Among the OSVOD staff are people of different ages, but united by one noble goal: to stand guard over human lives.

Natalia Khrapovitskaya. "Lepelsky Krai" newspaper