Briar McCaw and MaryKate Townsend started the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition, working with organizations in the southwestern Ontario region, after noticing a gap in knowledge about water safety. They started the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition, working with organizations in the area to increase water education for children, seniors, people with language barriers and migrant farm workers. Both live and work on the water in Elgin County, and wanted to do something to help educate those most at risk of drowning, including children, the elderly, people with 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 been teaching 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 coalition to improve water safety knowledge in Elgin County. (Submitted by Briar McCaw) Across 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 suffocation in Lake Erie. We could bring that number [of drownings] really close to zero if people practice safe behavior around water.- Barbara Byers, Lifesaving Society McCaw said she often sees swimmers at the beach struggle after going too far or children out of their parents’ arms. He said knowing how to swim isn’t enough, but water safety should also include knowing pool and beach rules and boating safety. “These are not new messages. We just need to make sure we’re clear about how they’re distributed,” said Townsend, who is also a boat insurance underwriter. “We’re really just trying to focus on 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 data on near-drownings in Elgin County, which has about 100 kilometers of shoreline, to help identify water safety knowledge gaps in the community. He 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 project expand to other regions. A lifeguard holds a swimming buoy while overlooking Breton Beach at Lac Philippe in Quebec in June. One of the organizers of a new coalition to prevent drowning in Ontario says a general lack of lifeguards isn’t helping water safety efforts. (Michel Aspirot/CBC) “Almost all drownings are preventable,” said Barbara Byers, senior researcher at the Lifesaving Society. “We could reduce that number really close to zero if people practice safe behavior around water.” Risk factors include being frail or a 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 dangers of drowning and to ensure they have the skills, training and focus to practice safe behaviour,” he said. “If we did that, then our number could be very, very, very low.”
