http://dbw.ca.gov/BoaterInfo/LifeJacketInfo.aspx
Saturday, July 2, 2011
New Life Jacket Law: Under the age of 13 MUST wear one
Please see this link to the CA Department of Boating and Waterways regarding new life jacket laws, how to buy one, and when to use it.
CALIFORNIA BOATING FATALITIES AND WATER RESCUES ON A RISE
Contact: Gloria Sandoval (916) 263-0788
June 29, 2011
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As predicted by the Department of Boating Waterways (DBW), this summer is shaping up to be a dangerous one for water enthusiasts, particularly for rivers. More boaters have died in swift water river accidents in the first six months of 2011 than any other comparable period on record.
With water temperatures being extremely cold, outdoor enthusiasts can become incapacitated in just 10 minutes, to the point that the muscles in their limbs stop working and they will no longer be able to swim or rescue themselves.
“Outdoor enthusiasts in, on and around the water must use caution and be prepared,” stated DBW’s Acting Director Lucia Becerra. “Many rivers will be running faster and higher this 4th of July weekend than in the past years. Water levels in lakes will also be higher, masking underwater hazards that were exposed in previous years.”
The biggest safety concern now is the use of flotation devices such as lightweight rafts which may be designed for swimming pools or calm waters. These flotation devices are dangerous. They can easily lose air or be punctured by debris or tree branches. Use of these types of devices is strongly discouraged during this period of high, swift and cold water conditions.
Knowing what to do in case of a water immersion, understanding the effects of cold water and wearing a life jacket are critical in improving chances of survival. Below are some tips that water enthusiasts should follow to improve their chances of survival:
Know the law
- A life jacket must be carried for each person on board a boat.
- Every child under 13 must wear a life jacket when on a boat.
- Every person on board a personal watercraft (popularly known as jet skis) and any person being towed behind a vessel must wear a life jacket.
- All life jackets must be Coast Guard-approved.
- It is against the law to operate a boat or water ski with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more. You can be arrested even when your BAC is less than 0.08 percent if conditions are deemed to be unsafe.
Plan ahead
- Become knowledgeable about local conditions such as currents, rapids, flow levels, weather, and hazards, including low-head dams and unrunnable rapids.
- Make sure you have the required equipment on your vessel.
- File a float plan. The chances of successfully locating an overdue boat are much greater if rescue agencies have certain facts about the boat trip.
- Swift water information and guides for some of California’s rivers are available on DBW’s Web site.
Know the water
- The water may look calm on the top, but river currents are usually strong beneath the water’s surface that can carry you away from your safety zone.
- Many unseen obstacles can be lurking below the water’s surface. Swift water can make these obstacles even more treacherous.
- An unknown rapid should never be run without first scouting it thoroughly from shore. If in doubt, carry watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles or hazards.
- Swimming in open water is more difficult than in a swimming pool – people tire more quickly and can get into trouble.
Know what to do in case of a water immersion
- Swift water: If you do end up in the river, point your feet downstream. This helps your legs to come in contact with floating debris or rocks first instead of your head. Stay calm and try to make your way to the shore while floating. Be wary of branches in the river. It may be tempting to reach for a branch, but you can become entangled in the branches and drown. Look for a clear place to get to shore.
- Calm water: If your boat capsizes and you are in cold water, get as far out of the water as possible by climbing onto any floating object, such a boat’s hull. This may help prevent heat loss from your body, especially if the temperature is warm and the winds are calm. If you cannot get out of the water, keep your head out of the water to limit heat loss. Curl into a ball or huddle with other passengers and restrict movement of arms and legs to further help limit heat loss.
- Hypothermia: Hypothermia in the early stages can easily be reversed by vigorously exercising to generate body heat and limiting exposure to further cold. High energy foods and warm liquids also help (no caffeine or alcohol). Except in mild cases, seek medical help as improper rewarming can cause complications or even death.
Parental Supervision
- Actively supervise children in and around open bodies of water, giving them your undivided attention.
- Appoint a designated “water watcher”, taking turns with other adults.
- Teach children that swimming in open water is not the same as swimming in a pool. They need to be aware of uneven surfaces, river currents, ocean undertow and changing weather.
For more information on boating and water safety, please visit www.BoatSmarter.com.
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The Department of Boating and Waterways enhances public access to California’s waterways and promotes on-the-water safety through programs funded by vessel registration fees, boating fuel tax dollars and boating facility construction loan payments.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Industrial Designers Develop Harness To Provide Spine Support During Water Rescues
July 1, 2008 — Industrial designers created a floating support brace from foam and other materials. It protects the spine from damage during swiftwater rescues. The harness corrects itself if it turns upside down in the water, and includes no metal.
See also:
See also:
Each year, there are over 7,000 drowning deaths, many in rough, choppy waters of rivers and oceans. But rescue efforts in swift water are among the most difficult for emergency teams. Now, a new rescue device makes saving lives easier.
The water's edge may seem peaceful and serene, but to emergency workers, a fast moving river can be deadly.
"We had a group of kids that decided they were going to help with the recovery effort that we were doing and ended up being victims themselves," Wayne Akers EMT and recovery diver for Swift Water Rescue, told Ivanhoe.
Rescue efforts in swift water can be difficult. Now, industrial design students from Virginia Tech have created a water rescue harness. It was a class project, that's ready for a real rescue.
"The goal of this device is to make it easier and safer to rescue someone in the water with a spinal injury," Liz Varnerin, industrial design student at Virginia Tech, told Ivanhoe.
It's called hydro-spine, and it's being tested today by professionals. It provides better spine support to help prevent injuries, and better flotation to guard against water hazards.
"The biggest thing we did was provide flotation, so if the unconscious person should become face down in the water, it will flip them over and keep them in the correct position in the water," said Varnerin.
It has handles for pulling and lifting, holes allow access to take patient's vital signs, four buckles fasten all at once, reducing the time it takes to secure a victim, and a stiff head support reduces the need for a neck brace. It also travels straight to the hospital.
"It's an all no metal design so the patient can stay in it in the hospital and go thru x-rays," said Varnerin. The device received rave reviews from rescuers.
"This has been one of the most gratifying projects I've ever worked on in school," Brian Sandifer, industrial design student at Virginia Tech, told Ivanhoe.
An A+ assignment with a huge reward.
HYDROSPINE: The Hydrospine is a rigid frame designed for use in water rescue situations, especially in fast-moving rivers. It is made from structural foam, a neoprene liner, nylon strops, buoyant buckles, and buoyant foam. It is intended to replace the metal framed harnesses currently used by rescue workers to stabilize accident victims with possible spinal injuries. The metal-free frame allows doctors to perform MRI and other scans at the hospital without removing the patient from the protection of the brace. The brace is designed to right itself if tipped upside down in the water, protecting the victim from drowning.
THE SPINE: The back is made up of bones, muscles and other tissues that compose the body's trunk, from the neck to the pelvis. The spinal column is the centerpiece. It supports the upper body's weight and houses the spinal cord, which carries the signals that control movement and convey sensations. The spinal column is made up of more than 30 bones, called vertebrae, stacked on top of one another. Each contains a round hole that creates a channel. Small nerves, called roots, enter and emerge from the spinal cord through spaces between the vertebrae. The spaces are protected by round, spongy pads of cartilage called intervertebral discs; these enable some flexibility in the lower back and serve as shock absorbers to cushion the bones as the body moves. The entire network is held in place by bands of tissue called ligaments and tendons. Damage to these disks and the spinal cord can occur because of impacts like car accidents, disease, or over time as a result of general wear and tear.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Everyday Heroes - margeaux leakas and Lacey Flanigan
Joy ride turns to rescue
When Margeaux Leakas, 16, of Dayton, Ohio, and her friend Lacey Flanigan (left), 17, of St. Louis, Mo. decided to meet their friend and go for a ride in Flanigan’s jet-ski, they saw something that didn’t look right. Their joy ride quickly turned to a rescue.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 11:35 PM EDT When they saw a dinghy circling around in the middle of the lake with no one in the driver’s seat, they knew there was something wrong.
When Margeaux Leakas, 16, of Dayton, Ohio, and her friend Lacey Flanigan, 17, of St. Louis, Mo. decided to meet their friend and go for a ride in Flanigan’s jet-ski, they saw something that didn’t look right.
“People were just standing on their docks, pointing to the water. All those people had bigger boats or yachts, so they couldn’t really do anything,” said Flanigan “I mean, by the time they would have gotten themselves untied and started up, it would have been too late. So, we just booked it over there.”
What the people on the dock saw was a drowning man.
“We could see a man in a bright blue shirt from where we were, and he was just throwing his arms around everywhere,” said Leakas.
The man in distress, Robert Leitz, 62, of Sister Bay, Wisc., was not wearing a life-jacket.
“I figured it wasn’t going to be a very long trip, and I could see my friend’s boat from where I was,” he said. “I was going to visit a friend of mine on the other side of the lake, so I kind of had my guard down.”
According to Leitz, he was only about 100 yards off of the municipal dock when he took the throttle of the boat and throttled up.
“All of a sudden, the boat jumped out from under me,” he said.
Leitz, who claims to be a pretty good swimmer, and has been involved with boating for over 30 years, said he just made a stupid mistake.
“My first instinct was to try to catch up to the dinghy because at the time it was just idling away from me,” he said. “The water was so cold though and I was losing strength as I was trying to catch up to it.”
Leitz said someone told him the water was 52 degrees when he fell in. Anything less than 70 degrees can induce hypothermia.
“I was in the water for about four or five minutes. If those girls hadn’t gotten to me in time, I think I would have lost consciousness,” said Leitz.
Leitz’s only hope was the two girls on the jet-ski who were still out of reach at that point.
As he was fighting to keep his head above water, the dinghy was coming back at him.
“I knew there was nothing I could do, so I lifted my arm up to try to knock the boat out of the way,” Leitz said. “The next thing I knew, I was looking at the bottom of the dinghy.”
The propellor of the dinghy sliced his ear and a part of his shoulder, leaving him in need of approximately seven stitches in his ear.
When the girls got to the scene, they saw Leitz bleeding and flailing around in the water.
One of the girls threw him her life-jacket but Leitz didn’t respond to it. So, Leakas decided to jump in the water and save him herself.
Flanigan was not only steering the jet-ski, but she was tied to it as well, so this left Leakas to saving the man’s life.
The 135 pound Leakas was somehow able to swim the 250 to 300 pound Leitz to safety by getting him to a nearby boat that was on its way.
“There was a family on that boat, and the father kind of helped me lift him up onto their boat,” Leakas said. “From there, the family covered the man’s face with a towel because that’s where the bleeding was coming from; then they headed to Ward’s to get the man to a hospital.”
After Leakas got back on the jet-ski, the girls located the out-of-control dinghy. Flanigan jumped on the small boat, which had run into a moored sailboat, and hit the killswitch.
Later in the day, the girls met the man they saved, and his wife, at the hospital.
“Both he and his wife gave us a great big hug and they just kept saying ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.’ They were incredibly grateful towards us,” Flanigan said. “It’s so weird: Last summer, I rode the jet-ski around and used it for fun all season long; This year, I used it to save somebody’s life.”
Leakas said the event was all a blur.
“I had never taken any life-saving classes before,” she said. “The water was freezing, and I don’t even know how I was able to do it. I can hardly remember how I swam with him.”
Leakas added, “He was moving around everywhere and I think I just put my arm around his chest or over his shoulder to get him over to that family’s boat.”
Ann Denison, Leakas’ grandmother, was the first to receive the girl following her heroic action.
“She just came home to me and didn’t say anything. She was just shaking,” Denison said. “When I asked her what was wrong, she said, ‘I just saved a man’s life.’ You could tell she was in shock.”
She added, “I told her, ‘you should feel lucky, not everyone gets the chance to save somebody’s life.’”
Both of the girls work as camp counselors at the Belvedere, where they’ll be living for the summer.
“They really are very amazing girls,” Denison said. “They did the right thing and I’m very proud of them.”
Thursday, May 29, 2008
RescueVoices.com - Everyday Heroes - Xavier Escobar
Capsized boat 'Good Samaritan' speaks
 | Reported by: Tim Malloy Email: tmalloy@wptv.com Photographer: Blain Logan Last Update: 5/28 7:01 am |
 BOCA RATON, FL -- "I wasn't going out, it was too rough" Dr. Xavier Escobar grew up surfing off the Boca jetty. His decision to take out a friend's Sea Doo on Memorial Day at six in the evening was on impulse. When he swung out of the channel into the open sea, he heard screams. "They were in the middle of the break, with white water all around them." Escobar found himself in the middle of a frantic fight for life. Six people were thrashing in the Atlantic, their boat overturned. They were drowning in a rip tide a hundred yards offshore. Escobar swung the Sea Doo around and plucked a young boy who was gripping the bow of the violently heaving boat. "I went over to pick him up. He didn't respond. I yelled at him and pulled him in. He said his family was out there." By then the Coast Guard and Boca's Marine unit were circling the victims and pulling them from the water. Escobar went back out. "They looked at us like we were angels,” says Escobar. All survived. Two were hospitalized. http://www.wptv.com/news/local |
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
RescueVoices.com - Getting Recognized
With large thanks to Shawn Alladio of K38 Rescue, RescueVoices.com is getting some excellent exposure.
We have been on Surfersvillage.com, GlobalSurfNews.com, PWCToday.com and more!
Rescuers, keep your stories coming!
We have been on Surfersvillage.com, GlobalSurfNews.com, PWCToday.com and more!
Rescuers, keep your stories coming!
Everyday Heroes - Paul Patterson and Anthony Navi
Sea cadet's daring rescue saves man's life
Life-savers .... Paul Patterson and Anthony Navi.
27 May 2008
TWO sea cadets were praised today after their heroic actions saved the life of a man who had who fallen into the Tyne.
Commanding officer Paul Patterson was on board Hebburn Sea Cadet's boat TS Kelly when he spotted the man falling into choppy waters near the cadets' building in Prince Consort Road Industrial Estate at about 5pm on Sunday.
Mr Patterson immediately alerted cadet Anthony Navi, who was stationed in a safety boat nearby in case of an emergency.
The 22-year-old hurtled full speed towards the TS Kelly boat where Mr Patterson, 47, leapt aboard as the safety boat soared past at 25mph.
After locating the struggling 38-year-old man, who was floating down the river, the two cadets managed to pull him out of the Tyne and on to their boat where they gave him first aid treatment. He was then taken to shore where the paramedics were waiting for him.
The pair have been hailed "heroes" by their colleagues and the emergency services.
Neighbourhood Sergeant Ed Hedley, of South Tyneside Area Command, said:
"The actions of the two men were very praiseworthy."
But Mr Patterson, from Chester-le-Street, played down his role, saying: "We were only doing our job."
He added: "We're trained to rescue people like that all the time and you just switch on when you have to.
"You expect other cadets falling into the water, but not just a member of the public.
"He was really struggling and he seemed unconscious, so when we pulled him out he was just dead weight."
The local man, who is thought to have been out with friends by the riverside when he fell, suffered no injuries but was taken to South Tyneside District Hospital as a precaution. Police and fire services also attended the scene.
Mr Navi, from Hebburn, said: "I heard somebody shouting for help, then I saw Paul waving me to come over, so I went full speed towards him and he just leapt on from one boat to another – it was unbelievable.
"Then we went straight to the man in the water and managed to fetch him out. It's lucky no one was seriously hurt. It could have turned out really bad."
Chief petty officer Sheila Harte said: "Paul was absolutely fantastic. The way he dived on to a moving boat in those choppy waters was amazing, it's unheard of.
"He had no fears about jumping on the boat. The emergency services were here very quickly but he had been rescued by that point."
A spokeswoman for Humber Coastguard said: "We had a call just after 5pm from a gentleman reporting somebody had fallen into the Tyne.
"We launched the Tynemouth inshore lifeboat and the Sunderland coastguard team also went to assist.
"But another boat in the area managed to help the gentleman out of the water and he was taken to hospital by ambulance."
- Last Updated: 27 May 2008 5:25 PM
- Source: Shields Gazette
- Location: South Shields
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