It’s swimming and boating season

We are now in the middle of summer, with lots of hot weather and joy at being outside after a challenging year of restrictions. Make every effort to be sure it’s a safe summer and fall for everyone. Whether you are visiting a lake, enjoying a backyard pool or going for a boat ride, here are a few things to remember:

  • Keep your eyes on children at all times around water. Stay close, within arm’s reach of young children.
    • Swim with a buddy.
    • Wear a lifejacket if you’re a weak swimmer or are going paddleboarding, kayaking, or canoeing.
    • Empty and turn over small portable pools and buckets of water when they’re not in use.

The Lifesaving Society notes that, in Canada, drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death for children under 10 years old. Drowning is fast and silent. Be sure to watch young swimmers at all times. If you own a backyard pool, install barriers to control access to the water, and train bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation. The Drowning Prevention Research Centre produced a 2020 Ontario Drowning Report infographic and the interim data shows an increase in drowning incidents (up 8%) over 2019. The increases in Ontario were across all activities: boating, non-aquatic/falling in, aquatic/swimming, and across all age groups.

As a former lifeguard and instructor, I encourage you to register your school-age children for basic swimming lessons so they can learn about water safety and safe rescue skills. Did you know that many new Canadians arrive from countries where learning to swim is not part of their experience? For example, 11- to 14-year-olds new to Canada are five times more likely to be unable to swim than their Canadian-born classmates. One quarter of those who say they can swim say they would not be able to meet the Swim to Survive standard that teaches skills to survive an unexpected fall into deep water: roll into deep water, tread water for one minute, swim 50 metres. Accidents happen. Let’s all do our best to be prepared.

This message hit home in Burlington recently (July 25), when a young child was transported from a residential swimming pool to hospital. The child remains in critical condition. We send our best wishes for a positive outcome.

Impaired driving occurrences

In July, twelve Burlington residents were charged with operation of a motor vehicle while impaired. An additional four Burlington residents were charged with driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 80 mg or more. Nine of these charges were the result of citizen-initiated complaints. Three were the result of collisions. That’s 80 incidents so far that we’re aware of in 2021.

Although they didn’t happen this way, that’s four incidents per week in July. Please, think about your friends and family. As a driver or as a host of people gathering, don’t take a chance. Plan another way home safely.

Other news

On July 26, Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) and the Burlington Fire Department responded to a fire at a residence on Maple Avenue. Thankfully, no one was in the residence at the time. The Office of the Fire Marshall is investigating this fire.

On July 23, HRPS responded to a 911 call about an adult male who had been struck and killed by an eastbound GO train.

Mac Flett wrote an article earlier this month on the HRPS Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Unit and the Diversity Engagement Table. Check out his article here.

Information for this article was provided by the HRPS. The occurrences were described in e-updates that include Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton, and Oakville. If you would like regular updates, subscribe to Community Notifications at https://www.haltonpolice.ca/en/news-and-updates/community-notifications.aspx. Remember that all persons charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Sources:

Life Saving Society. n.d. Url: https://lifesavingsociety.com/ (accessed July 28, 2021).