Police have warned of the dangers of quicksand and mud after they stopped a group of schoolchildren from stepping onto a muddy riverbank in Lancaster.
Officers issued the warning after they spotted and prevented the group of youths in school uniform from going onto sinking mud on the banks of the Lune opposite St George's Quay on Thursday.
They reminded people that emergency services were called out last year to help a young boy who was stuck in the mud in the River Lune near to Salt Ayre and several firefighters managed to pull him out to safety.
"The best way to avoid going through this ordeal, is to NOT walk onto the muddy riverbank in the first place, for any reason," said a police spokesperson in a 'Stay in the Know' message sent to residents.
"But if you do somehow manage to find yourself in this predicament the primary thing to do is stay calm.
"So, struggling alone won’t drown you, but we do still need to be wary. If you want to free yourself without waiting for rescue or for the sand to liquefy again, then research showed that just to release one foot, you would need to provide a force of 100,000 newtons – the equivalent of the strength to lift a medium-sized car.
"If both feet plunge through the surface, immediately lean your body back away from the loose sand/water mix. Don’t wait for your feet to become immobile. If the subsurface goop gets them in a firm grip - you can easily tear tendons and ligaments with sudden movements.
"If they feel stuck, lean back and sit, then spread-out on your back, arms extended out from your body, Don’t rest your weight on your hands, they will promptly emulate your feet.
St George's Quay in Lancaster
"Acting quickly is crucial - you need to prevent the ooze from closing around your foot or feet. Once your feet and/or legs are immobilized and surrounded by dense goop - you are in the suction dilemma - you want to free your legs, but you don’t want to sink farther.
"Any instinctive struggling (i.e., pushing with your hands or legs) will simply increase the pressure from your feet or hands and drive them deeper into the muck.
"Look about and yell for help! Once you are ‘spread out’ you can feel around for something solid to grasp and pull yourself out with. You may find nothing but perhaps you’ve used up your daily ration of bad luck.
"Once your weight is spread over as much surface as possible, you should be able to patiently apply upward pressure on your feet and legs and ‘float’ them back to the surface. When all your limbs are free you should be able to swim/squirm back to firm ground (at this point the last thing to worry about is the state of your clothing!)
"Believe it or not: if you don’t immediately escape, your next enemies are exhaustion and hypothermia.
"It is easy to waste energy and make things even worse struggling wildly. Water, cooler than blood temperature, is a heat sink and you will lose body warmth and more strength to it.
"If you are unconscious or too weak to call out, your chances being located and helped by somebody else are seriously reduced. You are floating now; you’ve got time to get out of this fix. Don’t ruin your chances of survival by thrashing about aimlessly.
"Just don’t be a stick in the mud and stay safe."
If you are able to, immediately call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if you or someone else is stuck in mud or sand.
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