Army Corps of Engineers - Water Safety
Army Corps of Engineers - Water Safety and Life Jackets
The Army
Corps of Engineers would like to remind parents and owners of pools to prevent
unsupervised access to pools and large bodies of water. Even if you do not plan
on swimming, be cautious around natural bodies of water including ocean
shoreline, rivers, and lakes. Cold temperatures, currents, and underwater
hazards can make a fall into these bodies of water dangerous.
Remember it
only takes 60 seconds for an experienced adult swimmer to drown. Furthermore,
it only takes about 30 seconds for a child to drown. Thus, we can reduce the
risk of drowning by preventing unsupervised access to water. Staying within
arm’s reach of young children and cutting out distractions while supervising
children improve their safety. Keep toys that are not in use away from the pool
and out of sight. Toys can attract young children to the pool. Finally, if a
child is missing, check the water first. Seconds count in preventing death or
disability. [1]
Furthermore, if you do not own a life
jacket it is important to do so for your own safety in unfamiliar waters or
when boating. There are five types of life jackets; however, two types of life
jackets apply more to recreational use than the others. Therefore, we are going
to discuss the benefits of type II and type III life jackets. One of the
primary differences between the two life jackets is that type II life jackets
turn an unconscious person upright in the water. Further differences between
the two life jackets include that type II life jackets are cheaper and less
bulky while type III life jackets are more comfortable and more suited for
boating or recreational activities like water skiing. When trying to fit a life
jacket, remember that a proper fit allows the life jacket to lift both your
head and shoulders above water. Examples of an improper fit include the life
jacket being too small or too large. A life jacket being too small causes a
lack in buoyancy which causes a wearer to be unable to keep their head and
shoulders above water. Moreover, when
the life jacket is too large, it causes the life jacket to rise above the
shoulders and face causing the wearer to be considerably uncomfortable and
impairs their ability to see and breathe properly.
Many people
object to wearing life jackets because they are too uncomfortable. As described
in the paragraph above, the likely cause of this is the size of the life
jacket. A proper fitting life jacket should be both comfortable and allow the
proper function of the life jacket. Furthermore, people tend to object to
wearing life jackets because they do not look fashionable. While this is true,
life jackets aren’t the most fashionable of items, the overall purpose of a
life jacket is to save someone’s life. Personally, if it was a decision between
life or being fashionable, I believe that the choice would be obvious.
It is clear that the benefits of wearing a life
jacket outweigh the cons of not wearing a life jacket in specific situations.
Perhaps no one could have said it better than William Ashworth, “Children of a
culture born in a water-rich environment, we have never really learned how
important water is to us. We understand it, but we do not respect it.” Therefore,
we need to teach our children and others how to respect water and treat it with
the respect it deserves.
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