Child’s Life Jackets
By Joe Slavin
Welcome aboard boating enthusiasts, today we are discussing child’s life jackets and the importance of wearing them at all times to ensure their safety. Outlined below are my six top tips which I feel are paramount in boating safety. Child’s life jackets are more comfortable and less cumbersome nowadays compared to what we were used to in the past and so gives less of an excuse for not wearing them.
Regarding your boating safety regulations, do you at all times wear a life jacket? Do you make sure that the children have a child’s life jacket on? Speaking for myself, I must admit that I have been guilty on both accounts in the past. How about you?
It was only when a situation much too close to home happened, that I changed my total discipline and routine. Now the very first duty when casting off is to don life jackets and that includes every member on board without exception. The purpose of this exercise is of course, to teach the children by example that they should wear their child’s life jacket and to form good boating safety habits. Let me just mention that the situation that I referred to earlier turned out not to be serious, in fact we can laugh about it now. Nonetheless a lesson was learned.
As adults we think we know our capabilities and if a child should fall overboard then it's only a matter of diving in and pulling the child to safety. This is where I believe we fall down. If we are close to shore, in calm waters and have excellent weather conditions, it may be simple to rescue the child. Now on the other hand, if the opposite applies to the previous statements, it will be a totally different ball game. Even a child falling overboard in good conditions, and in fairly shallow waters, could prove to be disastrous, if undetected by other crew members especially if they are not wearing their child’s life jacket.
I have seen figures stating that boating related drowning accidents could have been prevented if life jackets had been worn by children in the, aged 14 and under category by as much as two-thirds. There are laws in some areas where it is compulsory for children under 13 to wear child’s life jackets. Being a law it can and will be flaunted, but at the end of the day it must be the responsibility of the adults in charge.
We have learned that it is wise to always wear seat belts in the car. We have learned it is wise to always wear helmets when riding a horse or a bike. The question is, will we learn to always wear life jackets when boating.
These Are My Six Top Tips on Encouraging the Wearing of Child’s Life Jackets
Children must wear a life jacket at all times on board.
Make sure the children know how to use them.
Ensure the life jacket is the right size and a good fit i.e. not too loose.
All adults should set a good example by wearing life jackets.
Orange is the preferred color and will assist in the visibility aspect of the rescue.
A distress light can be a great addition for night rescue on a child’s life jacket.
Following these tips will ensure a more relaxed and more enjoyable boating experience. Boating safety is part of the healthy respect we should have for the sea, or indeed any navigational stretch of water.
Boating is one of the interests of the author of this article, Joe Slavin. If you have found this boating safety article on “Child’s Life Jackets” interesting then please visit my site where you will be able to receive our FREE REPORT and find lots more Boating Information
