National Drowning Prevention Week is a week to highlight the dangers of drowning and water-related injuries and to draw attention to how to be safe when around the water so every trip is a round trip.
Christopher Love, with the Life Saving Society, says this week’s theme is backyard pools.
In Manitoba, statistically speaking, backyard pools isn’t an area that sees a high amount of drownings, but Love says we still need to talk about it to stop tragedies from happening.
Some tips to stay safe in a backyard pool are, know how to swim, don’t swim alone, supervise children, and kids under the age of 6 need to be within arm’s reach.
During the summer it’s always great to be at the lake and out boating, in addition to the backyard pool safety tips, Love says to wear your life jacket and stay sober.
In Manitoba, 86 per cent of boating deaths involved not wearing life jackets, and 58 per cent of boating deaths were intoxicated at the time of the incident.
The province averages around 22 drowning deaths per year.
