Please Wear a Life Jacket for Those Who Love You!

Photo By Pamela Doty | Blog Header  

UNITED STATES

09.07.2022

Story by Pamela Doty 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Water Safety

Too many children every year while boating, fishing, tubing, or swimming with an adult have watched their loved ones drown. Most of the time the children survive because the adult they were with cared enough about them to put life jackets on them. The problem is sometimes bad things happen in open waters (lakes, rivers, ponds, etc.) and some adults don’t realize that taking care of their children involves keeping themselves safe by wearing a life jacket too.
Often adults fall overboard and drown in front of those on board. A father not wearing a life jacket drowned in front of his ten-year-old daughter and five-year-old son on his small boat that capsized in cold water. The two children were wearing life jackets, but both of them died from hypothermia. How scared those children must have been after watching their father drown and leaving them all alone attempting to survive in cold water. It seems very possible that the father might have been able to save all of them if he had been wearing a life jacket.
In another boating incident, a grandfather drowned in front of his wife and 5-year granddaughter when he jumped overboard to check the water depth to find an area for his granddaughter to get in the water. They were very close to the shore, but the grandfather had unknowingly jumped into water that was too deep for him to stand in and he was not wearing a life jacket.
Often it’s the boat operator that falls or jumps overboard, then the unanchored or improperly anchored boat drifts far away due to waves or current and nobody left on board knows how to operate the boat to get it closer to those struggling to get back to it. It’s always a good idea to make sure passengers and someone left on board knows how to operate the boat.
It’s all too common for adults to attempt to retrieve something (i.e. hat, inflatable toy etc.) or rescue a person struggling in open water, but the rescuer is overcome by waves caused by wind or boats and they drown. You should always wear a life jacket when attempting to retrieve something or rescue someone.
The proper rescue technique is to reach out something to pull someone to safety or throw something that floats to someone struggling in the water. Countless people have been saved by those two methods or by a rescuer who summoned a nearby vessel (e.g. row) to help the person in trouble. You should never go near someone struggling in the water. The mantra used by water safety educators to remind people of proper rescue methods is “Reach, Throw, Row, but never Go” to help someone struggling in the water. Only lifeguards trained in open-water rescue should go near anyone struggling in open water and they use rescue flotation devices.
In one incident, a grandfather jumped into the water to assist his grandson that was having trouble because the child’s life jacket became undone when he jumped into the water from the boat. The grandfather was able to get his grandson to the grandmother who pulled the boy back into the boat. Then she realized her husband was struggling so she threw him a suspender-style inflatable life jacket that required manual inflation. The grandfather drowned and was found with the life jacket buckled around his waist, but he was not able to properly put the life jacket on in a way that allowed him to inflate it. If he had been wearing a life jacket, he would have been able to float until he was rescued. A throwable flotation device is required to be readily accessible on vessels longer than 16 feet and throwing that might have saved him.
In our nation’s waters, considerably more adults are drowning than children. The main difference is children are wearing life jackets and adults are not. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages over 400 lakes and river projects in the United States, and their ten-year public recreation fatality statistics show that 88% were male, 87% were 18 and older, and 89% were not wearing a life jacket.
In regards to USACE water-related fatality reports, the USACE National Water Safety Program Manager, Pam Doty stated, “The worst part about my job is reading these reports and knowing how easily most deaths could have been prevented if they would have only worn a life jacket. I don’t only think about the person that lost their life, but I also think about their family and friends they left behind. Doing anything in our power to keep our kids safe should mean keeping ourselves safe by wearing a life jacket when in, on, or near open water.”
If you won’t wear it for yourself, please wear it for those who love you! Life jackets save lives, and if worn, they can help to make sure you are there for your children when they might need you the most. Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns, learn more at PleaseWearIt.com.

• Date Taken: 09.07.2022
• Date Posted: 09.07.2022 16:47
• Story ID: 428763
• Location: US