May 20, wear a life jacket to work!?

May 20 is Canadian Red Cross National Life Jacket Day.

Every year, 400 Canadians drown, 200 of them while boating in the summer months. And of those 200, 87% of them are not wearing a life jacket or do not have it properly done up.

The law only requires having a life jacket on board your vessel but not that you must be wearing it. Research has shown that people feel confident in a boat with a lifejacket nearby but don’t consider it necessary to actually be wearing it. Survivors of boating mishaps consistently stress, however, that when something goes wrong, having your life jacket nearby is not close enough! Like seatbelts in your automobile, a life jacket can save your life –- but only if you are wearing it!

There are almost as many excuses for not wearing life jackets as there are people who don’t wear them. “It’s too nice out” is one excuse. How about, “It’s too bulky. I can’t move when I’m wearing a life jacket.”? That is no longer a valid reason since life jackets have come a long way from the bulky, orange ‘life preservers’ that they used to be. The newer ones are comfortable and stylish and there are even life jackets especially designed for specific activities such as water skiing, fishing, kayaking, etc. Someone might say, “I’m a good swimmer.” Being a strong swimmer is not enough. If you were unconscious, your strong swimming skills wouldn’t be of much use to you.

The Red Cross is encouraging all boaters at all skill levels and in all types of boats, to drop the excuses. Don’t even step into the boat before you zip up your life jacket and make sure every family member is zipped up as well.

National Life Jacket Day is May 20th and the Canadian Red Cross challenges Canadians to join them in marking the day by wearing their life jackets for the entire day. Whether you are going to school, to work, to the bank, out for lunch, teaching a first aid course or picking up your children from school –- wear your life jacket and help making this summer’s boating a return trip!

They are also sponsoring a contest and the prizes are brand new life jackets for you and your family or the grand prize of two adult inflatable life jackets! To enter the contest, go to http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=22436&tid=001.

Let’s change the statistics and make this a safe summer season on the water!