Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Monday, July 23, 2007

TUKTOYAKTUK - A summer student in Tuktoyaktuk is interviewing residents and gathering data for a study on drowning.

Ava Baker, who coordinates Tuk's Northern Lights pool and also teaches lifeguard certification, said the results would be forwarded to the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Audrey Giles is there trying to determine why the NWT has Canada's highest per-capita rate of drowning, and looking for ways to improve swim programs.

Her goal is to provide suggestions to NWT pools.

One example Baker mentioned is Tuktoyaktuk's pool, which is heated and three feet deep.

If a person learns to swim in such a place, she said, they might be unprepared for a sudden fall into local lakes, which are considerably deeper and colder.

"We ask questions about drownings, what type of things people do on the water," she said.

"It's important that we find out what communities need what and communities want, to create better programs."

In past years, Giles has worked in Cape Dorset and Fort Simpson at the community pools, while Baker has also worked as a lifeguard in Taloyoak, Nunavut.

Results of the survey are expected to be published in a Canadian academic journal by next year.

According to Health Canada, only six per cent of drowning victims are found wearing safety vests.

This makes a proper flotation device one of the surest protection against drowning.

Despite a failure to use proper flotation devices Health Canada cites alcohol as the most common factor in drowning deaths. More than 60 per cent of drowning victims had more than the legal limit of alcohol in their system.