Don't swim alone, Lifesaving Society stresses in kickoff to drowning prevention week

Officials with the Lifesaving Society are highlighting the importance of swimming with others and wearing a life-jacket as they mark another National Drowning Prevention Week.

It comes as more people hit the water for the summer amid a spate of recent drowning deaths in the London area, including the drowning of a 17-year-old in Chatham, an 18-year-old man in Ipperwash, and a 35-year-old man in Port Burwell.

The week-long safety campaign began on Sunday, the same day Stratford police said a 13-year-old Hamilton girl drowned while swimming in the reservoir of Wildwood Conservation Area.

This year, the national volunteer organization and registered charity is focusing on educating the public about the dangers of swimming alone.

The organization says swimming alone was a factor in roughly 56 per cent of drowning deaths in Ontario last year involving adults aged 35 to 64, and 69 per cent of deaths involving adults 65 and older.

In young children five and under, absent or distracted supervision was a factor in 97 per cent of drownings, officials say.

"Drowning is fast, and it's often silent, so we're looking at ways that you can be safer together, whether that's with someone else, or a parent being within arm's reach, or whether it's with your life jacket," said Stephanie Bakalar, a spokesperson for the Lifesaving Society's Ontario branch.

"We have seen quite a few drownings this year, on par with the last few years happening in July, and it is often related to not being able to swim. It's a huge risk factor," she said.

Nearly half of all reported drownings in the province last year happened in a lake or pond. Nineteen per cent involved a river, 15 per cent a bathtub, and 11 per cent a pool. Just one per cent occurred in lifeguard-supervised settings.

Another major risk factor includes not wearing a life-jacket, including while boating. In at least 86 per cent of boating-related drownings last year, the victim was not wearing a life-jacket, the society says.

"I think there's a misconception with life-jackets that they're bulky, cumbersome, difficult. 'I don't need a life jacket,' is the attitude of a lot of people. 'I can swim. I'm on the boat, I'll be fine,'" Bakalar said.

"Once you've been in an accident on a boat or fallen overboard, you're not going to be able to get to your life-jacket to put it on. Same as you're not going to wait to put a seat belt on until after you've crashed your car."

She said modern life-jackets come in a variety of styles and models, including inflatable ones that stay flat until you need them.

Bakalar recommends people always swim with someone who knows how to swim or has lifesaving training, or to swim where there are lifeguards supervising. Children should always be actively watched at all times, she said.

Taking or brushing up on swimming lessons is also a great way to stay safe in the water, she said, and the knowledge gained through lifesaving training can be beneficial even if you don't plan to become a lifeguard.