| Ten WaterSmart® Tips:
1. Always Wear a Life Jacket!
Choose it and use it! Only 5% of Canadian drowning
victims were wearing a life jacket or personal flotation device (PFD).
One in four drowned boaters had no life jacket in the boat.
2. Boat Sober and Ride Sober
Don't drink and drive your boat, snowmobile or car. Alcohol contributes to more than one third of all preventable water-related deaths. Alcohol
is involved in half or more of fatal snowmobiling, recreational
powerboating, boat travel and automobile travel incidents.
Alcohol adversely affects your balance, judgement and reaction
time.
3. Drive Responsibly
Drive Your Powerboat, Personal Watercraft or Snowmobile
Responsibly. Stay low, drive at moderate speeds and be a aware of
changing weather conditions to avoid capsizing or falling
overboard. Falling overboard, capsizing and rough water are each
involved in one third of fatal boating incidents. Strong winds
are involved in one quarter of fatal boating incidents. Drive
with extreme caution and proper lights after dark. Two thirds
of fatal boating collisions and 85% of all snowmobiling drownings
occur after dark.
4. Always Supervise Young Children
If you're not within arms' reach, you've gone too far! Young
children 2-4 years of age have the highest preventable water-related
death rate. For 2-4 year olds, backyard pools
are the number highest risk location. For infants and young
children under 2 years old, the highest risk location is the
bathtub, followed by backyard pools. These young victims have
often been left alone. Drowning is a silent killer...you cannot
expect to hear a cry for help, so you must always be able to see
your child.
You must be your youngsters' lifeguard!
5. Learn to Swim! This is a must.
One third of drowning victims are non-swimmers.
6. Cold Water Kills
Hypothermia is a
leading cause of preventable water related death. Cold water is a factor in one of every four preventable water-related deaths. Cold water robs body heat 25
times faster than air of the same temperature.
7. Don't Go in the Water Alone
Always swim with a buddy. Four of 10 victims are alone when they
drown. Never swim alone, even in a backyard pool.
8. Never Dive into Shallow Water
Feet first, first time! Each year, dozens of Canadians suffer partial or complete paralysis from water related
incidents. Most incidents
happen while diving into shallow water.
9. Play and Swim in Supervised Areas
Almost all drowning deaths occur where there is no
lifeguard supervision.
10. Learn Lifesaving Skills
Learning to swim is not
enough. Many drowning victims are competent swimmers. Take a LIFESAVING SOCIETY "Water Survival and Rescue"
course at your local aquatic facility! |
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