Take extra precautions on water: expert

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2021 (1724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lifesaving expert is calling for extra caution in and around Manitoba’s waters, after a recent cluster of drownings and life-threatening incidents.

Three people drowned within roughly four hours June 4: a 17-year-old male near the Portage Diversion at Portage la Prairie, a 39-year-old man in the Whitemouth River, and a 24-year-old man in Reynolds Ponds.

Meantime, Sunday afternoon marked the second time in a little more than a week that people blown from shore on inflatable water devices had to be rescued from Lake Winnipeg.

“We got called through 911,” said David Creasy, deputy chief of the Matlock Fire Department. “By the time we got there, you couldn’t even see them with the naked eye from shore anymore.”

A group of three were on an inflatable dinghy and, despite having paddles, were unable to overcome wind and waves pushing them from land.

Christopher Love, water smart and safety management co-ordinator for Lifesaving Society Manitoba, said inflatables on large bodies of water are never a good idea.

“They’re designed to be light. They’re designed to float. And that means any sort of breeze can get them blowing away,” he said Tuesday. “On any of our larger lakes in the province… you can be taken very, very far away from shore in a very short period of time.”

If one does insist on taking an inflatable onto a lake, Love said to be sure “it’s tied off in a very secure manner to a dock or a mooring post,” or otherwise to something absolutely certain to not blow away.

He also recommended people wear life-jackets and equip dinghies the same way they would a boat.

“You could be including things like oars and anchors and flares and everything like that,” Love said. “You’re going to need the safety equipment to get help and to be able to make sure you stay safe while you’re out on the water.”

Canada’s cold waters can exacerbate the danger of drowning. When someone slips into and under waters below 25 C, as did two of the recent drowning victims, they go into “cold shock,” Love said.

This causes them to gasp, and if they’re below the surface, they may inhale water into the lungs and begin to drown.

At this point in the year, surface temperatures on Lake Winnipeg are usually around 10-15 C. Cold water will also cause muscles to seize and cease to function in anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes, depending on the temperature.

Love said people should dress not only for the weather but also for water conditions. “You need to be prepared for being in that water, even if that’s not your intent.”

For those who fall into a river and get swept away by the current, it’s critical not to fight the flow, he said. Unfortunately, it’s a common instinct to swim against the current.

“That just exhausts you very, very quickly,” he said, “because 99 per cent of the time, it’s going to be more powerful than you.”

People should instead swim with the current, using it to their advantage, and angle themselves diagonally toward shore, he said.

In a Lifesaving Society Manitoba report that focuses on five years up to and including 2017, using the most recent confirmed statistics from the chief medical examiner, Manitoba has an average of 22 drownings each year.

cody.sellar@freepress.mb.ca