You might feel silly wearing a life jacket to work on Wednesday, but the Alaska Office of Boating Safety says it’s for a good cause: to increase awareness of the versatility and comfort of today’s modern life jacket designs.
As we’ve previously reported, drowning deaths in Alaska decreased significantly between 2012 – 2015. Nonetheless, Doctor Scott Saxon with the Department’s Injury Surveillance Program says the goal is to eliminate Alaskans drowning by everybody working together.
Saxon: “Every Alaskan can keep moving that needle to greater and greater decrease by modeling good behaviors, especially adults around children and then wearing their PFDs, that kind of thing, when it comes to boating and then being aware of water. If you look at the [Epidemiology] Bulletin one of the circumstances is walking along or being near water in general, just be aware of where you’re at and keep an eye on children around buckets and that sort of thing especially those 0-9 because 91 percent of those were left unattended by an adult.”
The Alaska Office of Boating Safety reports that five out of six Alaska boating fatalities are a cold water immersion-related drowning, following their vessel suddenly capsizing or by falling overboard.
Nine out of ten who died were not wearing a life jacket or were never found.
The Office encourages Alaskans to sing a Pledge to Live (visit PledgeToLive.org), which promises their friends and families that they will wear personal flotation devices while on open water.
On Wednesday, May 25, anyone who wears their life jacket to work is encouraged to post a picture of themselves with the hashtags #lifejackets and #wearit.