Experts share boating safety advice ahead of Memorial Day Weekend
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTGS) — Memorial Day weekend kicks off the unofficial start of boating season, and water safety campaigns are helping to educate the public as part of National Safe Boating Week.
Over the last three years, SafeKids Savannah reported a 300 percent increase in drownings.
Jenna Morris, a coordinator for Safe Kids Savannah, said that many of those could have been prevented with life vests.
Life jackets are one of the biggest predictors in preventing boating-related deaths," Morris said. "86 percent of drownings on a boat or boating-related deaths happen when someone is not wearing a life jacket.
Organizations like Safe Kids Savannah and Child Life educate the public about child safety and provide free resources to help people practice those precautions.
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Life jacket 'loan' stations are one of the ways they are helping to provide greater access to lifesaving tools across the Coastal Empire.
Right now, life jackets are available to the public at seven different boating ramps in the Chatham County area.
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Morris said a new grant from the U.S. Coast Guard will allow the program to add free vest locations in Liberty, Effingham, and Bryan counties.
Kristen King with Memorial Health Child Life said she hopes kids will take advantage of the free life jackets this summer when boating accidents are most likely to occur.
Nationally, it’s the highest-ranked rounding, especially in children," King said. "We see younger kids, especially around the pool. But older kids - those kids that know how to swim - it’s the open water.
SafeKids Savannah is accepting life jacket donations at Memorial Health Hospital, all local fire stations, and Bass Pro Shop.
