Safer together the focus of National Drowning Prevent Week

Hot, sunny weather can draw hundreds of people to the beach. Most will go away after enjoying a day of sun and fun, but the situation can turn deadly with rip currents. Long Point Beach, pictured here, was crowded during a recent hot spell. (Jeff Helsdon Photo).

By Jeff Helsdon

LJI Reporter

It’s inevitable. Every summer sees tragedy strike somewhere in Southwestern Ontario with at least one drowning.

Most of the drownings are in Lake Erie, and nearby, Port Burwell and Long Point seem to get their share. National Drowning Prevention Week, which is July 20-26 this year, aims to prevent future drownings. This year’s theme is “Safer Together”.

Melanie Corbett, aquatics supervisor with the Town of Tillsonburg, said a variety of activities are planned for the outdoor pool and drowning prevention will be emphasized during lessons in the indoor pool.

“We want to encourage them to swim with a buddy, stay within arm’s reach, swim in a lifeguard-supervised area if possible, wear lifejackets -especially when you're on a boat,” she said.

Outdoor pool activities

Planned activities for the outdoor pool are:

July 20 - Sunny Sundays - involves teaching anyone who comes to the waterpark about sun safety

July 21 - A trivia challenge with water-smart questions and drowning report stats

July 22 -  A mock cardiopulmonary resuscitation will take place as well as a CPR demonstration and education.

July 23 – Swim and Splash will involve an obstacle course challenge for swimmers. Boat and lifejacket safety will also be taught.

July 25 – Cool down – Although it’s a long time from ice on the lakes, this day will focus on ice safety, wearing lifejackets and what to do if you fall through the ice.

July 26 – Rescue ready – Mock rescues of a swimmer in distress will take place.

Tillsonburg outdoor pool lead head, and the victim in this mock scenario, Abigail Sarafinchin, left, pretends to be in distress while lifeguard Shona Cassidy rescues her. Mock rescues are one of the many activities planned for the outdoor pool for Drowning Prevention Week. (Jeff Helsdon Photo).

Lake safety

Nate McIntyre, who started the not-for-profit Rip Current Information Project, has an extensive background with water safety. He has more than 27 years of experience as a lifeguard in Port Stanley, playing a role in creating the municipality’s beach rescue program that saw it go from two lifeguards to 28.

“While I was there, I was trying to learn about undertow and what was happening,” he said. “Researching that,” I discovered undertow wasn’t the concern but rip current were the concern.:

Undertow is a return of water anywhere there is a return of water to the lake from surf crashing on a beach. It is, however, diffused along the shoreline.

“It’s not until that current becomes focus that it moves people,” McIntyre said.

Rip currents are a concentrated flow of water, and are more intense.

“It’s a concentrated return of water through the surf zone back to deeper water,” he explained.

Rip currents can occur next to structures like piers or jetties, but can also happen in the middle of a beach. Wind speed and bottom structure are determining factors.

“It depends on the wind angle and strength of the wind on a particular day,” he said, saying it may not be present one day, and there the next.

Storms can also create ideal conditions for a rip current if sandbars are created and a channel develops in the sandbar. Then the return of water can be concentrated through the sandbar channel.

“It needs to go back out,” McIntyre said. “The sandbars will keep the water there a little longer.”

Flip, follow and float

If caught in a rip current, McIntyre’s advice was to flip, float and follow. Expanding on these points, he said the first thing to do is flip over and face shore so the waves aren’t throwing water in your airwave.

Then he advised to remain calm and float.

“The current is too strong to get out of. Wait for it to subsidize and then swim back towards shore,” he said, adding the swimming towards shore with the surf constitutes following.

McIntyre has been leading a campaign to increase awareness of how to escape from rip currents and prevent drownings.