Events across city will teach kids to be water safe

Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

A drowning can happen in mere seconds, but being fully prepared could potentially save your life or the one of somebody you know.

Saturday, July 22 is Drowning Prevention Day and the City of Oshawa is hosting a number of events at local swimming facilities in hopes of spreading the message.

Some educational activities that will be offered include CPR training, how to properly access emergency medical services (EMS) and how to properly wear a life jacket or other personal flotation device.

Julie MacIsaac, director of recreation and culture, says there will also be public information available at the pools.

Activities will be offered during public swim times at five pools in Oshawa, including: 1 to 4 p.m. at Camp Samac Outdoor Pool, 1 to 4:15 at p.m. at Centennial Pool, 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Donevan Pool, 1:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Legends Centre Pool, 1:30 to 4 p.m. at Rotary Pool and 2 to 4 p.m. at South Oshawa Community Centre Pool.

Some locations will also offer the Swim to Survive Challenge, a program developed by the Lifesaving Society, which is partnering with the city to provide these activities.

Lifesaving Society public education director Barbara Byers says the Swim to Survive Challenge was first developed in 2006 to help prepare people for a situation where they may be in immediate danger of drowning.

The challenge involves three skills, the first being the re-enactment of rolling into water, which can be caused, for example, due to a fall from a boat or dock.

Byers says such a fall can lead to someone swallowing large amounts of water/or knocking the wind out of themselves and it is important to know how to prepare for such a situation.

Byers says this is an extremely appropriate time to promote water safety and drowning prevention because roughly two-thirds of yearly drownings take place in between May and September.

“That’s the best time of year for swimming,” Byers says, explaining there are naturally more people in and around the water during the summer months.

While drownings represent the second highest cause of accidental death in Canada per year, related deaths have by decreased by roughly one-third nationwide over the past two decades.

According to the Lifesaving Society’s 2017 Ontario Drowning Report, the number of water-related deaths in Canada has dropped from 685 in 1993 to 428 in 2014.

Current numbers state there have been 54 drownings in Ontario so far this year, which was more than at this time in 2016.

However, drownings in the province have decreased over the past ten years, with the report noting there were 182 in 2006, but only 130 in 2014.

Byers says she believes the decrease in fatalities can be partly attributed to “more focused” education and awareness programs from organizations such as the Lifesaving Society.

However, even with the progress made in drowning prevention, Byers notes the death rate by drowning and water-related fatalities in Canada is still higher than many other countries.

She pointed out that there are approximately 160 boating-related deaths in Canada per year, compared to about 600 in the US.

With the US having a population about 10 times larger, Byers says Canada’s boating-related death rate is actually “more than double.”

Drowning rates are lowest amongst those ages five to 14 at 0.4 per/100,000 people and highest among those ages 65 to 89, with the highest rate being 2.9 death/100,000 people for the age group of 85 to 89.

Byers says there has been a significant focus on promoting water safety to parents with children under the age of five.

Byers says men, in general, are more susceptible to drowning, especially those between the ages of 20 to 34.

In fact, according to Byers, males are 80 per cent more likely to drown than females, with that number rising to roughly 90 per cent in the demographic of 20 to 34.

“It’s consistent with other activities such as skiing, cycling and snowboarding,” Byers says.

Byers noted that males between 20 to 34 are more likely to engage in alcohol or drug use before swimming and less likely to wear the proper safety equipment.

Sixty-six per cent of drownings occur in lakes and rivers, 14 per cent in bathtubs (which Byers says consist mainly of seniors and infants), 11 per cent in pools and nine in other locations.

When it comes down to brass tax for drowning prevention, Byers says it is up to adults educate themselves and always be safe, while those in charge of children should keep an active eye out for them.

“Whether they are in the bathtub or a pool, you can’t be on your phone or reading your book,” Byers says.

Referring back to how quickly a drowning can occur, Byers says the stereotypical scene from movies of someone screaming and yelling for help is an inaccurate portrayal.

“When a person is drowning, water fills their lungs and they cannot speak,” she says.

“For that reason, it is very important you watch for a change in someone’s actions and a change in their behaviour. Lifeguards, for example, are trained to look at people’s eyes.”

For more information, visit lifesavingsociety.com