With a lifeguard shortage and the pandemic curtailing swimming lessons, a new Ontario drowning prevention group is looking to educate beachgoers about water safety.
Briar McCaw and MaryKate Townsend started the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition, working with organizations in the southwestern Ontario region, after noticing gaps in water safety knowledge.
They started the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition, which works with organizations in the region to increase water education for children, seniors, people facing language barriers and migrant farm workers.
They both live and work on the water in Elgin County and wanted to do something to help educate those who are especially at risk of drowning, including children, the elderly, people facing language barriers and migrant farm workers.
“People don’t always understand that open water is a lot different than even a backyard pool,” said McCaw, who has taught swimming for five years in Elgin County and is a lifeguard in Port Stanley.
Lifeguard and swim instructor Briar McCaw is part of the duo leading the Elgin County Water Safety Literacy Coalition. (Submitted by Briar McCaw)
In Ontario, 51 people have drowned this year, according to the Lifesaving Society.
In June, a 24-year-old migrant farm worker from Guatemala died in hospital after a possible drowning in Lake Erie.
We can bring that number [of drownings] indeed to almost zero if people practice safe behavior around water.- Barbara Byers, Lifesaving Society
McCaw said he often sees swimmers on the beach struggling after going too far, or children out of their parents’ arms. She said knowing how to swim isn’t enough, but water safety should also include knowing pool and beach rules, as well as boating safety.
“These are not new messages. It’s just a matter of making sure we’re clear about their distribution,” said Townsend, who is also a boat insurance underwriter.
“We’re really just trying to focus in our own backyard, really. That’s where we want to make the biggest difference.”
Coalition member MaryKate Townsend says water safety extends beyond lakes to pools and bathtubs and wants to see more education to protect vulnerable groups. (Submitted by MaryKate Townsend)
Townsend wants to see more near-drowning data in Elgin County, which has about 100 kilometers of shoreline, to help identify gaps in community water safety knowledge.
She believes that collecting this data will help identify the target groups most at risk and what can be done – such as creating signs in different languages.
Townsend has learned from similar coalitions in Ontario and wants to see the work expand to other regions.
A lifeguard holds a swimming buoy as he looks out over Breton Beach on Lac Philippe in Quebec in June. One of the organizers of a new Ontario drowning prevention coalition says the overall lifeguard shortage isn’t helping water safety efforts. (Michelle Aspiro/CBC)
“Almost all drownings are preventable,” said Barbara Byers, senior researcher at the Lifesaving Society. “We could reduce that number really to almost zero if people practiced safe behavior around the water.”
Risk factors include being a weak or non-swimmer, not wearing a flotation device, swimming alone or consuming alcohol, according to the Lifesaving Society’s 2020 Drowning Report.
“It is in the public’s control to be aware of the risks of drowning and ensure they have the skills, training and focus to practice safe behaviour,” she said.
“If we do that, then our numbers could be very, very, very low.”
Add Comment