as the summer holidays arrive, the head of the quebec lifesaving society is once again sounding the alarm on drowning prevention measures.
raynald hawkins said there has already been more than 20 drownings this year in quebec, and many of them possibly could have been prevented had basic drowning water safety measures been followed. he said there are about 80 drowning per years in quebec.
raynald hawkins is the general manager of quebec’s société de sauvetage.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
“we used to have an average of 200 drownings per year. at this moment, we are on the same pace as last year when we had 81 drowning situations.”
while that number has mostly declined over the decades, he said at least 20 more drownings could be prevented every year if people who venture out into lakes and rivers in boats, canoes and kayaks wore personal flotation devices (pfds.) he said many people bring pfds with them in their boats, but do not bother to wear them or wear them incorrectly.
“you know why they don’t wear them?” asked hawkins. “because they think they won’t need them. or they think they will be able to put on a lifejacket after they fall in the water.”
hawkins said most people are overwhelmed once they fall into a lake or river.
“people think they are strong swimmers and they will be ok. but after falling into a lake of cold water, they are shocked by the water (temperature). they began to hyper ventilate.”