Canada’s National Drowning Prevention Week: Drowning Danger Hits Peak this Week: Quebec Seeks Provincial Regulations for Pool Regulations
Phil Couvrette, CanWest News Service
Published: Sunday, July 15, 2007
Canadians seeking refuge from the dog days of summer at water's edge take note: This week is the peak time for drownings in Canada.
National Drowning Prevention Week, which starts today, is situated smack in the middle of July for a good reason. This is the month of the year that sees the most drownings in Canada, said Suzanne Gorman, executive director of the Lifesaving Society.
Drowning, according to the Lifesaving Society, is the third leading cause of unintentional death for Canadians under the age of 60 and it takes 400 victims every year.
A majority of the victims drown in natural bodies of water and are male, many of whom never intended to hit the water, Gorman explained.
"Over seventy per cent are male," she said. "Less than one-third of the victims intended to get wet, which means they're usually in a boat, fishing or in land transportation or walking along rivers' edges."
More than 75 per cent of drownings occur in natural bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and oceans.
A little more than five per cent happen in backyard pools, five times more than in public pools.
"For children, our recommendations to parents is to keep them within arm's reach," Gorman said. "It only takes a moment for things to go from perfectly fine to trouble." Safety advocates also say wearing a lifejacket and leaving alcohol at home when going on boating trips, as well as following a lifeguarding course, can go a long way toward avoiding tragedies.
While drownings occur across the country, the issue has made its way onto Quebec's political landscape thanks to a few high-profile cases.
Tabled in June, Quebec's bill 18 would standardize province-wide norms for pool safety that currently vary from one municipality to another. The bill is aimed at private pools where on average 11 drownings happen every year in the province -- the worst record in the country. Of those deaths, half involve children under five.
"It's important to control access to private pools," said Raynald Hawkins of the Quebec Lifeguarding Society.
Gorman says the bill, which she believes is a first in Canada, is being closely followed.
The Union of Quebec Municipalities applauded bill 18 but stressed cities and towns shouldn't bear the cost of improving residential pool safety alone.
It said pool-makers, stores, installers and insurance companies need to share the costs.
© CanWest News Service 2007
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