Every year between the months of May to August people tragically lose their lives due to fatal water related incidents.
When hitting the water, it’s so important to ensure you and the people on board your watercraft are wearing personal flotation devices (PFD’s), better know as life jackets.
Many water related incidents include, boating, kayaking and swimming, in most cases life jackets aren’t worn or were not available.
Here in Nova Scotia, most incidents are in remote areas such as lakes. This results in longer than normal response times from emergency services.
Not all fire departments have watercraft, bringing in neighbouring fire departments to assist, also adding critical time to the response.
Most water related calls are high risk – time is crucial to safely rescuing individuals. In some cases, anchoring rope to trees is required when deploying rescuers.
Wearing a flotation device increases your chance of surviving such incidents.
The lack of personal flotation devices and alcohol consumption are the leading causes of most deaths contributed to water related incidents.
Statistics from 2008-2017 show that there was an average of 100 fatal boating incidents in Canada per year.
Most recreational boating-related deaths occurred during powerboat use. Canoes were the next most common type of watercraft used prior to a fatality.
Every year in Nova Scotia, multiple emergency services respond to water related incidents along lakes, oceans, and rivers.
Approximately 62% of fatal related incidents were on lakes, while 27% of incidents occurred along rivers, streams, and waterfalls.
Most first responders I’ve spoken to locally have seen water related incidents being avoidable. If flotation devices were in use or available, these tragic incidents could have been prevented.
Recreational boating-related deaths are preventable. Wearing a personal flotation device increases your chances of survival by a substantial amount.
Let’s spread the word and ensure everyone hits the water safely this summer.
Reference link from the Drowning Prevention Research Centre can viewed by clinking the link attached below ⤵️
https://dprc-crpn.ca/media/d0mluiej/dprc_recreational_boating-related_fatalities_canada_-_nov_2021.pdf
Additional flotation device information can be located by clicking the link below ⤵️
https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/marine-safety/boating-safety/choosing-lifejackets-personal-flotation-devices-pfds#
Adrian J.
