Northern Lights Palace Pool. (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW Staff)

By Ben Tompkins

raising awareness

Melfort participating in Drowning Prevention Week

Jul 19, 2023 | 8:45 AM

The City of Melfort and the Northern Lights Palace Pool are trying to raise awareness about water safety.

This week (July 16-22) is National Drowning Prevention Week, and the city and pool have organized a variety of activities and courses to educate the public.

“Raising awareness for drownings in our province, but in Canada also, I think is kind of the main mission of the drowning prevention week. They say anyone could drown, but no one should,” said recreation and aquatics manager, Shannon Marshall.

“Drowning prevention is what our pool does as a mainstay, our number one goal is drowning prevention, but then also just the education sessions and awareness around it. It’s really good to get the community involved and make kids and parents think about it.”

Key themes for the week include introductions to the drowning problem, supervising children, boating safety, learning to swim, staying sober, open water safety, and saving a life.

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Meanwhile, key activities include swim to survive, ice safety day, boat safety day, junior lifeguard day, and save a life day.

“Anytime that you can tie in education that you need to tie in with drowning prevention, but tie it to an activity or game, it makes it more engaging for everybody, so that’s one of the reasons we do them,” Marshall added.

“Our community is surrounded by lakes, streams, rivers, so not just pools. We want to make sure that everybody has the education to be water smart, not even when you’re at just an aquatic facility, but you might be at a lake or river by yourself or with family. It’s important that everybody has the knowledge.”

National Drowning Prevention Week is designated by the Lifesaving Society to focus community and media attention on the drowning problem and drowning prevention.

According to them, “basic swimming ability is a fundamental requirement in any meaningful attempt to eliminate drowning in Canada.”

Over 400 Canadians die in preventable water-related incidents annually. In most drownings, the victim never intended to go in the water and was often close to safety.

Alcohol consumption is also a factor in many water-related fatalities. Both alcohol and cannabis use can impair balance, judgment, and reflexes.

“Even one drowning is one too many, always directly supervise children around the water – if you are not within arms’ reach, you’ve gone too far. Always wear a life jacket when on a boat. Make smart choices before going in, on or around the water. You can save a life, yours, and someone else’s. Take a learn-to-swim, lifesaving or first-aid class today,” their website stated.

Statistically speaking, this week is the worst week in Canada for drowning-related incidents.

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