With summer officially upon us, more boats and residents across the Grande Prairie region are taking to the water, but Grande Prairie Technical Search and Rescue is reminding anyone looking to enjoy nature to keep water safety top of mind.
Technical Rescue Team Lead Alan Stebbing says one of the best ways for people to ensure they are being safe is by wearing their personal flotation device when they are on the water.
“Unfortunately every year we have people who end up in the river, end up in the lake and drowned because they are not wearing their PFDs, and I don’t care how well you can swim, if you are unconscious you can’t swim at all,” he adds.
Stebbing says the best way to make sure kids wear PFDs on the water is by them seeing the adults they are with wearing them as well. He suggests a serious issues the volunteered-based organization has faced in recent years are people getting into a boat and heading up the river while drinking, but when they come back down the river their judgement is impaired.
“They hit a rock, they hit a sand bar, and are thrown from the boat. In a lot of cases the best case scenario there is they are thrown onto the shore, [where] they might get hurt but they can get up and walk away.”
“However, suddenly they get thrown into the river, get knocked out and then we are called in to do searches on the river and try to do rescues,” Stebbing says. “And unfortunately because of the vast area we cover, a lot of times rescues turn into recoveries.”
Another piece of advice he has is to make sure you have a plan with somebody responsible, not just for tubing or boating, but all outdoor activities. Stebbing explains this way if you don’t show up when you are supposed to, they can call someone to come and look for you, with the best-case scenario being you are just stuck and need help getting out.
“But, if something has happened you really want that ability for somebody responsible to be able to call search and rescue, because cell service doesn’t work in a lot of the river valleys.”