Most people who drown did not plan to be in the water. Sadly, most boating accidents are preventable. Use common sense when you are out on the water. Things can change in a split second.
Crime Stoppers and local Police Services wish to remind the public to take precautions to be safe around lakes and rivers. Being submerged in freezing cold water can be deadly. Water temperature in local lakes in the spring and fall can be quite frigid; in fact most Canadian lakes and rivers are cold enough any time to trigger cold shock and/or hypothermia.
Cold shock causes uncontrollable gasping, often leading to people inhaling water and drowning.
Your normal core body temperature is usually right around 98.6 F. In hypothermia, your body fails to maintain a normal temperature. An internal body temperature of 95 F or lower signals hypothermia. With Hypothermia, blood flow quickly leaves the extremities (hands/arms and feet/legs) to protect the main organs of the body, making it impossible to swim. An accidental fall into cold water is especially likely to lead to hypothermia. Hypothermia may develop within minutes of being exposed to cold water, or it may take several hours, depending on the water temperature. Water doesn't have to be icy cold to cause hypothermia. Your body loses heat more quickly in water than in air. Any water temperature lower than your body temperature causes your body to lose at least some heat.
Drowning is sometimes known as the silent killer. Drowning victims rarely call for help because it takes everything they have to just get a breath of air. Drowning can take as little as 10 seconds.
SOME STATISTICS
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79% of boating victims over the past 10 years were not wearing a life jacket when they drowned
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64% of all people who drown from boating accidents were impaired
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Alcohol or drugs were involved in 59% of all power boat accidents and in 84% of drownings while canoeing
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The average blood alcohol level of impaired boaters is 2.5 times the legal limit
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80% of boating victims are male
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51% of the victims drowned when their boat capsized
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24% drowned when they fell or were thrown overboard
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10% were killed in collisions
Safety Tips
Links
If you have any information about any serious crime, please call Crime Stoppers.
If your tip leads to an arrest or recovery of property or narcotics
you may be eligible for a cash reward.
You will never have to give your name or testify in court and Crime Stoppers doesn’t have call display or call trace.
Call Crime Stoppers locally at
222-TIPS (8477) or toll free at 1-800-222-TIPS
or
Click here to use our secure on line form
or
Text TIPSUD and your message to CRIMES (274637)