Life Jackets. They save lives…but only if you wear it.
It is a sad statistic: 70% of boating fatalities are a result of drowning and of those, 85% of the victims were not wearing life jackets*. In the United States, reports state that 9 out of 10 boat related
drownings occur in sheltered, inland waters, usually within a few metres of safety. What does this mean? It means that a vast number of boating fatalities were most likely easily preventable. Of course, we would see this as completely unacceptable. But laws are already in place, forcing boat owners and skippers to provide adequate life jackets on their boats. So why then, if the boats have life jackets on them, are people still drowning?
Here are some unofficial ‘truths’ about life jackets in Australia.
We all carry a lifejacket for each person on board – TRUE.
We do it so we don’t get fined – TRUE.
They are likely still in their plastic, tucked away under a seat or stowed away with the anchor line where they will never get ruined …. or used – TRUE.
They are most likely those large, rigid and uncomfortable foam floatation devices that make casting your bait almost impossible. TRUE.
Lifejackets are like seat belts, hopefully they are never needed, but can save your life one day – TRUE.
There is a reason why most people don’t wear their life jackets while they’re at sea or in the river. They’re bulky, uncomfortable, hard to relax in and most of all…they just don’t look god. We get it. We all do it. But the statistics tell us a change needs to be made. Perhaps we should make the change ourself before Government legislation does it for us with yet another set of rules, making the wearing of life jackets mandatory at all times. We’ve moved on from the ‘dark ages’ of personal flotation devices. They’ve evolved beyond the primordial hard foam and bright yellow fabric soup form which they came. A new species of life jacket is in town and with it’s arrival, our excuses not to wear them go extinct.
Gas powered slim design life jackets are the way of the future. They’re comfortable, some may even go as far as to say they’re stylish, and most importantly, they’re safe. There is no reason NOT to wear one. Wether you’re sailing across to Rottnest or bottom bashing five fathom bank for dhufish, the slim design life jackets won’t get in your way. They’re comfortable and they’re easy to use…and they’re not even expensive.
While some of us may like to think we’re divine, none of us can walk on water. Next time you find yourself out on the water, take a moment and think. How long could you tread water for if your boat sank? …in fact, how long do you think you could stay afloat if you knocked yourself out in the process of going in the water? In Perth we’re lucky to go boating in a good warm climate, almost year round, with consistent offshore water temperates. This often means if you find yourself bobbing around the ocean like a cork waiting for rescue, that hypothermia is probably less of a risk than drowning. If you’ve set off your EPIRB (and you should have one) or a flare chances are you just need to play the waiting game and stay afloat long enough for rescue. How long can you tread water for? Wear a life jacket and you’ll never need to answer that question.
visit Wear It Australia for more information.