NUNAVUT
The territory's chief coroner has used National Drowning Prevention Week as the backdrop for her plea to residents of the territory to be more careful around the water.
Coroner Padma Suramala says rate of water-related deaths could be substantially reduced. - |
Padma Suramala said with a little more common sense, the rate of water-related deaths could be substantially decreased.
Suramala added that there are often common issues in many of the drowning deaths that her office investigates.
"The main risk factors that we find are that there were no lifejackets or personal floatation devices available. The operator of the boat was a non-swimmer. There were no signs indicating undertows or currents exist, and people were not prepared for an emergency," Suramala said. "The other main reason we also find, not in every case, but there are certain cases where there was alcohol consumption by the deceased."
Suramala said those factors are discovered in virtually every water-rated death in Nunavut. She added that these types of deaths are easily preventable.
"Public education should be targeted, particularly to males aged 15 to 60 because that demographic makes up the vast majority of our drowning deaths," she said. "I recommend lifejackets or personal floatation devices should be worn at all times in all pleasure crafts less than six metres in length while boating. People should always swim with a partner who knows how to swim. And when intoxicated, people should not swim or operate a pleasure craft."
Suramala said closer attention should be paid to warning signs both by boaters and swimmers.
She said that her recommendations go out to residents and the Government of Nunavut as well as non-government organizations like the Canadian Red Cross and the Lifesaving Society. She said she believes the agencies are listening to what she has to say but added that there can always be improvements when it comes to water safety education and the general public.
Suramala said that the majority of water-related deaths in Nunavut involve boating versus people swimming, as there are few pools. That may be due to cold water in the territory, which is the case most of the time.
She added that the drowning numbers in Nunavut appear to be relatively stable. 2014 was a bad year with eight water-related deaths but in 2016 that number dropped to just two, although Suramala added that investigations into some deaths last year have yet to be completed.
"Every day as a coroner I want to prevent and not have any (water-related) deaths."
She said she wants people to enjoy themselves out on the water, she just wants folks to be prepared for any emergency.
National Drowning Prevention Week, an initiative of the Lifesaving Society, took place across Canada from July 16 to 22. The society encourages all Canadians to do what they can to reduce the number of water-related deaths, including taking a CPR course or learning water rescue skills.
According to the Canadian Red Cross, Indigenous people tend to have greater exposure to drowning hazards than the average Canadian, and their drowning rates were up to 10 times higher than non-Indigenous. Part of the reason for that, according to the agency is that Indigenous people often travel by boat and snowmobile across frozen water.
Indigenous toddlers aged 1 to 4 years old are another high risk group, with a risk of drowning several times higher than for the average Canadian child. Indigenous people tend to live near natural bodies of water such as lakes and rivers. Lack of continuous supervision and homes built close to open water were also risk factors for drownings.
