I was recently at a hotel in Italy that had what I'd have to describe as an emergency drawstring - in pulling the string you pull a switch beside which it says "Emergency". I assume the purpose is to provide people who get stuck, be it because they fell and broke a hip, or whatever, however, the drawstring didn't seem to be long enough to really be pulled from the basin.
This makes me wonder... is there another purpose to the draw strings? Are they required in some EU countries? I don't recall seeing them in France...