Drowning at Auburn Bay Lake

[Clarkey]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I agree.

I believe kids under 10 aren't in the water unless they are in the water WITH an adult. As in, the adult is swimming/standing next to them, life jacket or not.

A poorly fitting lifejacket can be more hazardous than no lifejacket.

That's not an argument against no lifejackets, it's an argument for proper fitting safety gear.

I'm not disagreeing with you but I'm interested in your rationale for choosing under 10 years old.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

Drowning is preventable.

I hate to seem callous in a horrific situation... but where were the parents? ALL children should be supervised around water.

**edit

You've already been taken to task, so I won't. But I hope you now realize how horrible that reaction is.

[Dion]

Rico Butac was enjoying an evening of paddleboating with his brother-in-law, nephew and eight year old son when they first saw indications of trouble.

“We heard a lady close to the middle of the lake screaming for help,” he told the Sun.

“We almost didn’t hear her — we didn’t know how long she’d actually been there.”

Butac recalls seeing the woman frantically swimming to shore, an unconscious boy laying on top of her paddle board.

Jumping to action, the pair immediately started shouting for help, trying to catch the attention of people on shore.

Once the child was back on solid ground, a bystander identifying herself as a nurse performed CPR until paramedics arrived just after 6:30 p.m.

The child was rushed to South Calgary Health Campus where he was pronounced dead, EMS spokesperson Naomi Nania said.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/07/25...uburn-bay-lake

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

I'm not disagreeing with you but I'm interested in your rationale for choosing under 10 years old.

When I was a teenager I had a lifeguard certification and learned that kids were more susceptible to drowning because they don't have the strength to struggle as long as an average adult. The signs of an adult drowning are more apparent than a child. That might be outdated info now, but based on the 10 year olds I know that seems to hold true more or less.

I still think 10 year olds should be actively monitored, just don't need to be IN the water with them at all times. Not in water with a current, but these sorts of community lakes, sure.

Plus, fewer terror inducing moments promote more time in the water which promotes good swimming skills.

Does CP have any lifeguards on duty?

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

...Does CP have any lifeguards on duty?

The OP?

[IliketoPuck]

Really sad to hear this story. This sort of thing happens all too frequently.

A few weeks ago we were on vacation in Ontario near Kingston. About a kilometer from our cabin there was a multiple drowning while we were there. Two men and a boy were out in a canoe fishing at about 8:30 pm and ended up catching a fish, then standing up and capsizing the canoe. The kid was 3 years old and wearing a floatation shirt (not a life jacket), the other two were not wearing life jackets.

The two men drowned, the boy survived. This all happened in a bay that was about 150m wide, and at most 6-7 feet deep. Alcohol was involved, and I can only assume neither man knew how to swim and panicked.

[Madman]

Truly terrible news.

As I learned all too quickly last year, it really doesn't take much at all to take out a young kid. Our 7rd old was out in the lake when a small boat wake came in, the pull from the waves and the wave height itself was enough to just take him quietly under - he wasn't out too deep at all, (or so I thought), but the combination of factors meant it went from good fun to me sprinting into the lake to pull him up in a literal split second. Thankfully I was watching my kids, but as pointed out, it isn't some big dramatic production when a kid is in serious trouble.

Thanks for posting that article, it was a really good read.

[polak]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

Really sad to hear this story. This sort of thing happens all too frequently.

A few weeks ago we were on vacation in Ontario near Kingston. About a kilometer from our cabin there was a multiple drowning while we were there. Two men and a boy were out in a canoe fishing at about 8:30 pm and ended up catching a fish, then standing up and capsizing the canoe. The kid was 3 years old and wearing a floatation shirt (not a life jacket), the other two were not wearing life jackets.

The two men drowned, the boy survived. This all happened in a bay that was about 150m wide, and at most 6-7 feet deep. Alcohol was involved, and I can only assume neither man knew how to swim and panicked.

Adults who don't know how to swim and go into water without life jackets are some sorts of clueless. Bringing a child along with them is even more jaw droppingly irresponsible.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by polak

Adults who don't know how to swim and go into water without life jackets are some sorts of clueless. Bringing a child along with them is even more jaw droppingly irresponsible.

Many drowning victims are fine swimmers. It's usually alcohol, panic, etc that leads to drowning

[Northendzone]

apparently caleb (the boy who drown) goes to the same day care as my daughter.

my heart goes out to caleb's family.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Many drowning victims are fine swimmers. It's usually alcohol, panic, etc that leads to drowning

I always assumed it was injuries of some sort that cause people who can swim to drown in open water. Assuming that they're within swimming distance to shore or a boat of course.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by polak

I always assumed it was injuries of some sort that cause people who can swim to drown in open water. Assuming that they're within swimming distance to shore or a boat of course.

Poor assumption. There are many reasons why strong swimmers can still drown.
- Alcohol
- Panic
- Exhaustion

A related article. I don't know how credible any of their facts are, but some of the conclusions are likely right regardless.

http://alternative-doctor.com/news-s...rong-swimmers/

[Russic]

Originally Posted by polak

I always assumed it was injuries of some sort that cause people who can swim to drown in open water. Assuming that they're within swimming distance to shore or a boat of course.

Last summer my wife and I were swimming in a lake and there was a floating dock about 50-75 yards out. Because I'm a man-child, I challenged her immediately to a race. Once I lost, I began my swim-of-shame back to shore. It's not like I was unable to breathe or even that my limbs were overly sore, but suddenly for a moment I lost buoyancy and sunk just enough to submerge my face. It was kind of a "oh... so that's how that happens" moment. I can imagine having to swim 200 yards and feeling pretty confident, but then things just don't end well.

[polak]

Yeah can see that. I had a moment like that once where I was pretty far out from shore and felt like I was getting exhausted which actually scared me quite a bit. I just flipped on my back and lightly kicked myself the rest of the way but I could see it becoming an issue.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by polak

I just flipped on my back and lightly kicked myself the rest of the way but I could see it becoming an issue.

Yep -- my dad was a lifeguard in his twenties and this was the number one thing he taught me about 'not drowning' when I was a kid. If you're too tired or think you're drowning just get on your back, because you'll float right up with very little effort and can stay that way for hours if you need to.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

If you're too tired or think you're drowning just get on your back, because you'll float right up with very little effort and can stay that way for hours if you need to.

I quite literally could not float on my back to save my life.

[polak]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I quite literally could not float on my back to save my life.

floating in one spot is one thing but if you start kicking your feet staying afloat should be pretty easy.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Yep -- my dad was a lifeguard in his twenties and this was the number one thing he taught me about 'not drowning' when I was a kid. If you're too tired or think you're drowning just get on your back, because you'll float right up with very little effort and can stay that way for hours if you need to.

I had an incident back in the late 1990's where the house boat I was on left me in the middle of the Shuswap lake as they failed to do a head count before moving on to a different location. It took them 20 minutes to realise they left me behind. The longest 20 minutes of treading water and floating on my back.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I quite literally could not float on my back to save my life.

You don't even really need to float on your back. Body types dictate buoyancy but typically your average body is buoyant. Usually the only people that will struggle with buoyancy is muscular people.

If you take a breath, tilt your head like you are looking straight up, you can actually bob up and down in the water with enough of your face sticking out to stay breathing even with your feet underneath you.

Obviously this would only work in relatively calm waters but you can stay that way for quite some time without moving a muscle.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by polak

floating in one spot is one thing but if you start kicking your feet staying afloat should be pretty easy.

I think this would depend on the wave situation. Nice calm body of water sure no problem but if waves are rolling and going over your head it could become very difficult.

Two weeks ago I swam out to a floating dock with my kids, not very far maybe 75 yards. Both kids in good life jackets me nothing. I have a bum shoulder right now and a minute or so into the swim I realized this was a bad idea. The way there wasn't so bad but after playing around for 10 or 15 minutes we decided to go back. By this time I could barely move my shoulder. A buddy swam with my son but I took my daughter and was doing ok with the one arm side stroke until a bunch of boats went by and the wakes became very difficult to swim in. It felt like it took 3 or 4 times the effort just stay above water. I struggled through it but could not believe how completely exhausted I was from the few minutes. I was very thankful for the rope coming off of the end of the dock.

I definitely don't helicopter parent but around water I make sure to be pretty close to my kids. But as my 6 year old gets older and braver it becomes harder and harder to do so. They can be all over the place in a blink of an eye. And some times that's all it takes.