How unfortunate that a trio of incidents on the May long weekend in Canada have drawn attention to the issue of water safety across our country.
Still, there’s a lot of summer left and it can’t hurt to mention that recreational water safety is vitally important in a country where so often recreation takes place on, near or under the water.
Everywhere across this country, people are paddling, swimming, angling, diving, cliff jumping, skiing, surfing, snorkeling … the list goes on. Further, people also camp and hike near lakes, rivers and creeks where attention must be paid.
Locally, a female kayaker from Ontario (page 1) perished in the cold waters of the Bow River after something went tragically wrong during a solo paddle.
In northern Manitoba, two fathers and two sons were lost when their canoe capsized and in Newfoundland, a 14-year-old boy drowned near Gander when a canoe with three youngsters aboard overturned. Fortunately, two other teens in the canoe made it to shore safely.
In the case of the Newfoundland youth, lack of a personal floatation device may have contributed to his demise, but in the other two situations, PFDs were in use – which only highlights the care and attention that must be given to watery playgrounds.
In the case of the kayaker and Manitoba paddlers, very cold water in the range of 3 or 4 C was part of the picture, so it may be that hypothermia was a contributing factor.
In our Bow Valley very cold water is the norm and must be taken into account when considering recreational activities. Paddlers, rafters and anglers must be aware of the debilitating effects very cold water will have.
The Lifesaving Society of Canada has some very sobering statistics in relation to water safety in our province, including that between 2009 and 2013, 183 people drowned in Alberta lakes and rivers. Of those, 59 per cent happened between May and September, and 54 per cent occurred on a weekend, according to a 2016 edition of the society’s Alberta Drowning Report.
In warning parents to actively supervise children, the society points out that drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death in children under 10. The major contributing factors are a lack of supervision, or a distracted caregiver.
As well, more than half the Albertans who drowned between 2009 and 2013 did so during a recreational activity – the most common being swimming. Adults and children should learn to swim and weak swimmers should always be supervised, or be in the water with someone more experienced.
Wearing a PFD goes without saying, though the sound safety advice is not always followed, and people need to be aware that alcohol is behind nearly a quarter of all boating-related drownings.
And it’s not like drownings are unheard of in this area. Far from it as in recent years fatalities have been registered in Kananaskis Country lakes, the Bow, even Quarry Lake, which wouldn’t strike many people as an ominous body of water.
So, as the weather warms and more and more people arrive in our valley to recreate over the summer months, let’s ensure everyone, locals and visitors alike, give our waterways the respect they deserve.
