RESCUE OF A DROWNING MAN IN 1881 IN THE DIFFICULT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF THE KIEV PROVINCE

The article analyzes the unique case of the rescue of a drowning man in 1881 in the difficult climatic conditions of the Kiev province. We are talking about a voluntary rescuer of a drowning person. The boy rescued his own father from the water element, as the board of the Kiev District Society reported to the All-Russian organization. The case interested the main patroness of Russian society, Empress Maria Feodorovna. The Kiev District Water Rescue Society was one of the most famous in the country. The emergence of the water rescue society has become an important event in Kiev public life. On the Dnieper River and its tributaries, the board of the Kiev District Water Rescue Society built rescue stations, half-stations and posts. The public organization trained professional atamans and sailors for rescue stations. The main waterway of the area of responsibility of the Kiev District Water Rescue Society, the Dnieper River, due to difficult geographical conditions, annually claimed the lives of a significant number of local residents. Atamans and sailors of rescue stations managed to significantly reduce the number of drowned. At the same time, the public organization disseminated information about ways to rescue drowning people in the settlements of the subordinate territory. Moreover, it was not only about the rescue of a drowning person, but also about providing him with emergency medical care. As a result, there were rescues of drowning people who were not members of the Kiev District Water Rescue Society. In turn, the board of the public organization introduced statistics on drowning rescue cases and provided lists of volunteer rescuers for awarding to the leadership of the All-Russian Society for Water Rescue. It should be noted that the All-Russian organization of water rescue equally encouraged professional and voluntary rescuers of drowning people.