OUTLOOK - This week marks Drowning Prevention Week in the province, and in Outlook, staff at the Van Raay and Community Swimming Pool have been busy educating the public on all sorts of safety measures and practices in the event of something catastrophic taking place.
Held over July 20-26, Drowning Prevention Week aims to keep people more aware and alert of what needs to be done in situations when people may suffer injuries while swimming and become in danger of drowning.
"Each year, countless families and friends head out to enjoy Saskatchewan's beautiful lakes, rivers and beaches," Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross said in a media release. "But water safety is not just important for park visitors. It is critical for everyone who spends time around water, whether it is boating on the lake, swimming in a backyard pool or fishing on a quiet river."
A key safety initiative in provincial parks around Saskatchewan is the Lifejacket Loaner Station program. Launched in 2016 in partnership with the Lifesaving Society, the program has continued to grow and now offers free lifejackets in a range of sizes, from infants to adults, at 24 stations throughout the province.
"Personal flotation devices (PFD) add a level of protection for swimmers and non-swimmers alike, whether they are worn in a boat or while swimming in open water," Lifesaving Society Saskatchewan CEO Shelby Rushton said in the release. "Donning a PFD from one of the loaner stations is an easy way to stay safe and an added bonus is that the PFDs are free to use; just put them back at the station once you are done."
In Outlook, staff at the Van Raay and Community Swimming Pool have been holding key events each day of the week in order to show people what happens when emergencies take place. Helping to keep people, particularly younger residents of Outlook engaged in the process, an activity booklet provided to them helped them keep track of the events of each day, and at the end of the week, they'll hand in their booklets to receive a prize from staff.
Events held during the week included a life jacket clinic on July 21, a Swim to Survive program on July 23, a focus on boat safety on July 24 and cold water safety on July 25.
However, it may have been the live EMS demonstration held on July 22 that showed what goes down in the event of an emergency at the Outlook swimming pool, as staff reenacted a head injury incident and called in emergency personnel to the scene, where the person was treated and taken away on a stretcher before being loaded into an ambulance and transported to a health care facility.
Measures such as this helped to show the reality that can occur when something as serious as a head injury happens at a public swimming pool.
Between 2015 and 2020, there were 1,768 drownings in Canada.
Children aged nine or younger make up nearly 80% of drowning-related visits to hospital emergency departments.
