Avoid Tragedy in the Water
Research Triangle Park, N.C., May 24, 2004 - As the weather heats up, North Carolinians love to take to the waters and enjoy a day of fun and sun at their local lake, river or beach. Yet an enjoyable day on the water can soon turn tragic if safety guidelines regarding personal flotation devices (PFDs), more commonly known as life jackets, are not observed.
As part of Consumer Product Safety Month in North Carolina, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) and the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) are teaming up to offer residents of the Tar Heel state some valuable safety tips on how to stay safe and keep your children protected in the water.
According to the U. S. Coast Guard, 524 boating-related drowning deaths occurred nationwide in 2002. "In about 85 percent of those cases, the victims were not wearing a personal flotation device," said John Drengenberg, UL's manager of Consumer Affairs. "PFDs do save lives, but they won't work if people don't wear them. It's the most important piece of equipment you can bring on a boating trip."
Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, who also serves as state chair of the North Carolina SAFE KIDS Coalition, emphasizes the water safety concerns for children. "Each year about 38 children drown in our state," he said. "Whether in a pool, lake, river or on a boat, children should always be supervised by an adult and never by other children."
To help reduce drowning fatalities, the safety experts at UL and NCDOI offer the following safety guidelines regarding use of PFDs.
- Take your time in making your PFD selection. Avoid making your decision based on price or fashion. Purchase more than one type of life jacket if you own a boat and use it for more than one purpose, such as cruising on a calm lake one day and deep-sea fishing another day.
- Stand out in a crowd. You want to be highly visible in the water. Orange may not be your color, but it's the easiest one for rescuers to spot.
- Read, read and read some more. Check out the label and the "Think Safe" brochure attached to every new PFD to be sure the device is appropriate for your height and weight.
- Before donning the device, check your PFD for rips, holes or tears, and make sure straps and hardware are in place and secure. Also, there should be no signs of waterlogging, mildew odor or shrinkage of the buoyant materials.
- Try on your life jacket at the start of every boating season. Never alter it to make it fit. Check its buoyancy in shallow water by relaxing your body and letting your head tilt back. Make sure the PFD keeps your chin above water and that you can breathe easily.
- To work best, PFDs must be worn with all straps, zippers and ties fastened.
- Let your PFD drip dry thoroughly before putting it away. Never dry your PFD on a radiator, heater or other direct heat source. Always stow it in a cool, dark and well-ventilated space.
- When not in use, don't expose your life jacket to long periods in the sun. Sunlight and heat can weaken some synthetic fabrics and degrade the buoyant material. Fading can indicate a loss of strength.
- Don't put heavy objects on your PFD or use it for a kneeling pad or boat fender. PFDs lose buoyancy when crushed.
- If your boat is 16 feet or longer (excluding canoes and kayaks), you must also have a throwable (Type IV) flotation device on board. Make sure it's in good condition and practice throwing it.
- Don't mix alcohol and water activity. Alcohol is involved is as many as 80 percent of boating accidents. It impairs your judgment and reaction time, and lowers your body temperature faster when you're in the water.
- Have your children try on PFDs before heading out to the water. You can check the fit while your children are wearing the devices by gently pulling up on the life jackets' shoulders. If the PFDs fit correctly, your children's chins and ears will not slip through the neck holes.
- North Carolina requires children to wear life jackets while on board a boat, but they should never be relied on in place of parental supervision. Inflatable toys, rafts and other non-approved flotation devices should never be used in place of life jackets.
- North Carolina law also mandates that children of all ages must wear PFDs when riding or operating a personal watercraft (jet ski).
More safety tips and other resources for Consumer Product Safety Month are available at www.ncdoi.com.
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization that has been testing products for more than 110 years. UL tests more than 18,850 types of products annually, and more than 19 billion UL Marks appear on products each year. Worldwide, UL's family of companies and its network of service providers include 60 laboratories, and testing and certification facilities.
The North Carolina Department of Insurance is the state agency charged with regulating the insurance business in North Carolina. NCDOI also houses the Office of State Fire Marshal and the North Carolina SAFE KIDS Coalition, two organizations that strive to prevent unintentional injuries and deaths. Commissioner Long has served as head of NCDOI and as state fire marshal since 1984, and as state chair of SAFE KIDS for eight years.
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