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All it takes is 12 seconds for your child to drown.

"If you leave your three year-old in the water while you go to get a life jacket, they can drown in the time it takes you to get it," said lifeguard Kathleen Sullivan.

Brad Kaeding, left and Janna Van Kessel, right, keep their hands in the air as they tread water as part of "Swim to Survive," a water safety course offered at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool on Sunday. The event was sponsored by the pool and Paddlers for Parts Association - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

Knowing how to handle an unexpected water situation is very pertinent to residents of Yellowknife, according to Sullivan.

Sullivan was the instructor for the second Swim to Survive course offered at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool in partnership with Paddlers for Parts, a fund raising group concerned with organ and tissue donor awareness and promoting canoeing and kayaking as a healthy lifestyle.

"We have all these lakes and rivers and water systems around us and a lot of people don't know how to handle a sudden water emergency," Sullivan said. "Drowning is the third leading cause of preventable death in Canada. It's important for people to know how to survive something like this."

Paddlers for Parts president Greg Loftus said they sponsor these types of courses because of the relevance to people in the community.

"A lot of people around here who use boats and are in the water a lot don't really know much about water safety," he said. "It's a really important thing to be educated in and this course helps bring confidence to people so if they do end up in an emergency situation they know how to handle it."

Sullivan, a first year lifeguard said they worked on numerous water safety techniques, from how to properly fit personal flotation devices (PFD) to how to deal with ice safety, something Sullivan said is extremely relevant to northerners.

"You hear about people falling through the ice all the time," she said. "It's very important for people in Yellowknife to be aware of the measures you'd take if you fell into cold, winter waters."

Sullivan said they talked about how to assess a cold water situation. You can only swim a third of your regular distance in cold water and Sullivan said it's important to be able to gauge your swimming abilities to deal with cold water.

Loftus said it's a great program for youth because it gives them the skills they need at a young age to be able to handle a difficult situation.

"It's extremely important for kids to be aware of the dangers that they could encounter with water," he said.

Brad Kaeding has been kayaking for over ten years and participated in the program on Sunday and found it to be an excellent refresher.

"It was a lot of stuff I already knew but it was a great way to go over important aspects of water safety," he said.

Another course will be offered on Jan. 18. Even though the course is free to the public, Loftus hopes people who sign up will follow up on their promise to attend, and show up.

We have a limited number of spots and some people can't get in because it's full," he said. "We held one in early November and some people who signed up didn't show. It's hard to raise the money for events like this and we want to make sure the money is getting its full use."

For information on the next course, check with Ruth Inch Memorial Pool.