News: "Kids Don’t Float" Program Provides Lifejackets
May 23, 2008
Savannah, GA - Safe Kids USA is making it easier for you to protect children from drowning in open waters this summer. The "Kids Don't Float" water safety program was launched in Savannah this month, providing loaner lifejackets at strategically-placed locations near rivers, lakes and oceans, and educating kids on open water safety.
Drownings are the second leading cause of injury-related death to kids ages 1-14. Spending time in and around the water is a common pastime in Chatham County. Locally two-thirds of hospitalizations related to activity around water occur at a pool. The other third occur in rivers and the intra-coastal waterway. Past data indicates that one child in Chatham County waters will drown every year. From 1996-2006 there were eight drownings for children 0-18 reported in Chatham County and thirty-nine in the Coastal Health District, comprised of eight coastal counties. Last year, Metro's Marine Patrol officers responded to two youth drownings, and dozens of boaters in distress calls.
"As children grow older, the drowning risk increases for them in open water settings in part because they are less apt to wear a lifejacket," says Jane Garrison, Coordinator of Safe Kids Savannah. "We hope that by providing loaner lifejackets and educating our children, we can reduce drowning fatalities and increase child safety in open water settings.”
Kids Don’t Float was developed in Homer, Alaska, to combat the high rate of drownings in Alaska. The program was then expanded by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the State of Alaska, Alaska Safe Kids, and representatives from different community organizations to be used throughout Alaska.
Thanks to the success of Kids Don’t Float, Safe Kids USA is expanding the program to include 38 lifejacket loner stations at 19 locations nationwide. In addition to Savannah, the locations include stations in Marietta, Ga.; Gainesville, Ga.; Holland, Mich.; Richland, Wash; Kelso, Wash.; Yakima, Wash.; Silverdale, Wash.; Tacoma, Wash.; Houston, Texas; Austin, Texas; Lebanon, N.H.; Portland, Ore; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Tulsa, Okla.; Manitowoc, Wis.; Lakewood, Colo.; Topeka, Kansas; and Robbinsdale, Minn.
In addition to the lifejacket loner stations, which will be built at public boat access or swimming areas, the Kids Don’t Float program includes an educational component aimed at children ages 8 to 14. The first two locations for the loaner stations are at Houlihan Bridge boat ramp and Rodney Hall Boat Ramp at Skidaway Narrows on the Intra-Coastal Waterway.
“We want to educate kids on open water safety and how important it is to always wear a lifejacket in and around open water,” says Chrissy Cianflone, director of program operations at Safe Kids USA. “We want to make this educational learning experience fun for them so the safety messages stay with them for life. Properly wearing a lifejacket in and around open water is an important safety precaution that can help reduce drownings and save kids’ lives.”
For more information about drowning and water safety, call Safe Kids Savannah at 912 353-3148 or visit www.usa.safekids.org/water.
Safe Kids Savannah holds a press conference to kick off the "Kids Don't Float" program
Students from Hesse Elementary School hang lifejackets on the loaner station at the Rodney Hall Boat Ramp
WWW Address: http://www.gachd.org/news/kids_dont_float_program_provid.php