Last week was National Drowning Prevention Week, and today is World Drowning Prevention Day, so the Lifesaving Society gave some tips on drowning prevention.
Dr. Christopher Love is the Water Smart and Safety Management Coordinator for Lifesaving Society Manitoba, and he said the goal of last week and today is to raise awareness of the problem, and the ways to prevent drowning tragedies from happening.
"Annually every year in Canada we have approximately 450 who die due to drowning, and in Manitoba, it's on average 22 deaths per year. That's just the fatalities, that's not including any injuries that also occur due to drownings across the country."
He said some of the common, standard tips from anyone going around the water are:
- Never go alone
- Wear a life jacket when it's appropriate to do so (ie. when boating)
- Learn how to swim
- When children are swimming, have active adult supervision
- When the children are around seven or under, be within arm's reach at all times
- Be sober when around the water
