Help Us Save Lives on our Nation's Waters

Photo By Pamela Doty | Blog Header Picture  

UNITED STATES

11.30.2022

Story by Pamela Doty 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Water Safety

We need your help supporting the award-winning Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns campaign. This campaign was launched in 2016, through a partnership between the nonprofit Corps of Engineers Natural Resources Education Foundation (The Corps Foundation) and the nation’s leading provider of water-based recreation the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The campaign has been supported financially by USACE and also through six Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust fund grants, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). This update on the status of the campaign is being provided in hopes that you will join us in promoting this campaign so we can save more lives on our nation’s waters.

The goal of the campaign is to reduce water-related fatalities on our nation’s open waters (lakes, rivers, ponds, etc.). The target audience for this campaign is adults, primarily men because 88% of those who drown in USACE waters are men. This campaign is successfully reaching this goal by encouraging more adults to wear life jackets.

The campaign is promoted on social media at Please Wear It on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The social media pages were created in April 2018. As of the end of September 2022, the Facebook page had accumulated over 21,863 followers and those numbers continue to grow. Following us on any of these three platforms and sharing the content helps immensely to promote the lifesaving messages that are part of the campaign.

Even though USCG reported a 25% increase in boating fatalities in 2020 compared to 2019, and USACE reported a 22% increase in water-related fatalities in the same time frame, there has been a 7% decrease in USACE water-related fatalities when comparing five years prior to the launch of this campaign in 2016, to the five years since then. If the sixth year (2021) post-campaign launch is included, it was still a 6.2% decrease in fatalities. This downward trend is remarkable considering the 2020 increase in fatalities and recent growth in water-based recreation. Despite the downward trend, many lives were still lost so there’s work to be done and we need your help.

Regardless of the success of the campaign, occasionally some people think that the campaign slogan is too harsh. According to risk management communication experts, the campaign slogan, especially the “nobody mourns” portion has proven to create an emotional appeal that helps motivate some boaters to wear life jackets. Establishing some degree of perceived threat or fear is part of the cognitive process of changing behavior, according to the “Protection Motivation Theory” of risk communication that originated in 1975. World-renowned educator, interpretive specialist, and risk communication expert Sam Ham stated on the “Please Wear It” Facebook site about the Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns campaign that “Frankly, this is one of the best conceived safety communication campaigns of any kind I've seen in 40+ years of professional work in risk communication.” Mr. Ham is using our campaign messages in workshops around the world to help others better understand effective persuasive communication.

In 2019, the National Drowning Prevention Alliance recognized the Corps Foundation for this campaign with their prestigious “Lifesaver of the Year Award.” The 2022 annual Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns campaign survey identified that on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, 46% rated the campaign 10, and the average rating was 9.

For anyone interested in promoting the Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns campaign and helping to save lives on our nation’s waters, campaign educational materials, including video/audio public service announcements, artwork, print ads, blogs, and social media images, are available for free at www.PleaseWearIt.com. A campaign resource guide is on the website with many ideas on how you can help promote the campaign. The website is managed by the USACE National Operations Center for Water Safety and can be reached at [e-mail]. Find a USACE office near you at www.CorpsLakes.us for more information and products to assist you in promoting the campaign.

• Date Taken: 11.30.2022
• Date Posted: 11.30.2022 13:08
• Story ID: 434223
• Location: US