Sylvan Lake, Aug. 22 (rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Sheldon Spackman

Water Safety

Sylvan Lake drowning prompts important water safety reminder

Aug 23, 2019 | 12:38 PM

The drowning of a young man on Sylvan Lake this week has prompted a water safety reminder from the Lifesaving Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories Branch.

Kelly Carter, executive director for the organization, says there are between 40-50 drowning deaths in Alberta each year and between 400-500 nationwide.

“We know that these are extremely tragic incidents when they occur,” says Carter. “They have a devastating impact in regards to the families, communities and friends and people who are associated with it. The worst part of all of this is that many of these deaths are preventable.”

Carter says there are many steps you can take to help prevent drownings from taking place.

“Wear a life-jacket. We know that life-jackets save lives,” he exclaims. “Anytime people are on a boat or on the water, it’s important that they’re wearing a life-jacket at all times because you don’t know if the environment or conditions might change or what’s going to happen. Similar to wearing a seatbelt in a car, it’s important to wear a life-jacket when you’re in a boat because it’s too late if you get in an accident or a capsize situation, it’s hard to go find it in that time.”

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If you’re with children in the water, Carter says it’s important to always keep them within arm’s reach.

“We know that they’re quite vulnerable and they like to look and explore and they often try to get into water that’s a little bit too deep for them,” he warns. “It’s not just good enough to be in sight or to be able to hear them, but it’s important to be able to see them and keep eye-contact with them at all times. Drowning is silent and it’s one of those things where you’re not going to hear a situation if it’s taking place, you need to be nearby and watching intently.”

Although supervised swimming pools may be the safest places to swim, Carter admits unsupervised lakes for example, also offer appealing locations for a dip.

“When you go out to a lake, you’re in an uncontrolled environment, you’re in nature,” he adds. “So if you’re going to choose one of those environments to go outside, it’s important to choose one that has a designated swimming area such as a provincial park or beach where swimming is permitted.”

Carter says to be prepared when you leave the house and know what you need to take with you.

“Sunscreen, towels, life-jackets, all that sort of stuff, any beach toys that you might need,” he explains. “Then when you get there, just make sure that you get set up and you have everything out there with you and you’re not running back and forth to the car when children might be playing. Also, if you’re a weak swimmer or a non-swimmer, make sure you’re wearing a life-jacket at all times, even if you’re on a boat or an inflatable or anything like that.”

However, Carter encourages all Canadians to learn basic swimming survival skills.

“So learning those swim lessons such as Swim to Survive, which teach people to survive an unexpected fall into water,” he explains. “In many facilities, aquatic facilities across the province offer that if individuals will contact them. The second thing is, if you are a swimmer, get trained, learn how to save a life, learn how to rescue someone else and we do that through our lifesaving programs such as Bronze Medallion and Bronze Cross.”

National Drowning Prevention Week was July 21-27.