The security plan of this XNUMXth edition emphasizes prevention
The celebration of the Maspalomas Open Water 2023 Crossing that takes place this Saturday in the open waters of the coastal strip that goes from Playa del Pajar to La Charca will have an organizational and security device of around one hundred personnel.
To establish the proper coordination of public services during the development of the event, the Councilor for Security and Local Police of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council, José Carlos Álamo Ojeda, brought together this Thursday the heads of the operational services and those responsible for the organization to coordinate the security plan and the intervention that the different security organizations and bodies will have in the Open.
The organization of the Travesía, promoted by the Sports Department headed by councilor Ramón Suárez Ojeda, has decided in this twelfth edition to pay special attention to the culture of prevention, an issue that the event's security table intends to emphasize with extensive operation of professionals and volunteers.
The security device will involve members of the Local Police and the National Police Corps, the Civil Protection volunteers of this municipality, medical and health personnel from Hospiten Clínica Roca, nautical rescue specialists from the local Red Cross agency and a dozen of students of the Training Program for Alternation with Employment (PFAE) 'SOS Maspalomas' for aquatic lifesaving.
The technical security resources that will be put at the service of the organization and development of the three swimming tests included in this event, one of 7.400 meters starting at El Pajar Beach; another of 2.000 meters that starts at Las Meloneras Beach, and the 1.000-meter one that begins in front of La Charca, all ending at the Maspalomas Lighthouse, there will be a mother ship coordinating nautical safety, two supply vessels, a jet ski and a rescue boat, and an advanced life support ambulance and two basic life support ambulances. In addition, a dozen kayaks will be used in channeling and support tasks for the swimmers, who will have a dozen remote-controlled geolocation beacons for reference in the water. In the finish area, a small hospital and a care and massage tent will be set up for athletes.
Risk analysis
In the meeting of the security table supervised by José Carlos Álamo and the editor of the Security Plan, Enrique Rafols Martel, all possible intrinsic risks associated with the development of the event's activities, the fixed and provisional facilities that requires its infrastructure and logistics, and even those that could arise due to adverse weather phenomena during the test. Only incidents that could occur in the water were determined as high risks, hence the reinforcement that the Red Cross operators will have. The preventive and protective measures that will be taken into account throughout the event were also supervised, for swimmers, kayaks, boats and the specific ones emanating from the authorization of the Maritime Captaincy. The circulation of any boat not belonging to the organization is completely prohibited within a radius of 100 meters, both to the right and to the left of the marked lines of the test route.
Likewise, the Security Plan contemplates an information and meeting point that will be established next to the organization's stand, with the functions of responding to participants and the general public and as a space for referral and location of people in cases of loss. juvenile.
