GLSRP's Third Coast Ocean Force: Drownings up 83% over last year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 15, 2012

Contact:

Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project

Dave Benjamin, Executive Director and Public Relations, 708-903-0166

Bob Pratt, Executive Director and Water Safety Expert, 517-643-2553

Drownings up 83% over same time last year

Be hyper-vigilant around bodies of water this spring

Drowning reporting database coming soon

GREAT LAKES, USA – The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project (GLSRP) announces its current “2012 Great Lakes Drownings” statistics. To date in 2012, it’s possible that 11 people have drowned. That’s an 83% increase over the same date last year. Overall since 2010, 172 people have drowned (74 in 2010; 87 in 2011, 11 in 2012).

HYPER-VIGILANCE WATER SAFETY

“Although the weather may be summerlike this weekend, the water is still dangerously cold,” said Bob Pratt, GLSRP executive director. “The waters are still in the forty degree range, and it’s highly recommended that people don’t enter them.”

According to the GLSRP, if you are boating, create a float plan, communicate that float plan to someone on land, and wear PFD’s. In case someone falls overboard or off a pier, know the “1, 10, 1” rule of hypothermia”: 1 – COLD SHOCK – 1 minute to get your breathing under control before attempting to get out; 10 – COLD WATER INCAPACITATION – 10 minutes of meaningful movement before you run out of energy; 1 – HYPOTHERMIA – 1 hour before your heart stops.

DROWNING REPORTING DATABASE

“We say that, it’s “possible” that eleven people have drowned to date in the Great Lakes because of the incomplete information available to the public pertaining to drowning reporting data,” said Dave Benjamin, GLSRP executive director. “We have four “John Doe’s” in our statistics because information is hard to get. It can be frustrating when there is so little information available.”

The Great Lakes consists of 9,402 miles of coast lines, eight states, five lakes, and two countries. Each year over 60 million people year visit the United States and Canadian shores. Drowning reporting requirements vary from country to country, state to state, and county to county.

The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project started tracking Great Lakes drowning statistics because no other agency has taken such leadership. The GLSRP is on a mission to create a unified Great Lakes Drowning Reporting Database to gather information pertaining to drowning incidents to increase the accuracy of tracking Great Lakes drownings.

This database (coming soon) will include information about the weather conditions, water conditions and the victim through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire will include the date, location, time, name, age, ethnicity, language, hometown, swimming ability, air temperature, water temperature, wind direction, wind speed, wind gusts, wave height, warning flag color (if applicable), rip current related, and rip current warnings.

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The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, Inc. (GLSRP) is about saving lives. It is a nonprofit corporation that is a Chapter of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA), the 2011 “Lifesaver of the Year” award winner, and presenter at the NDPA’s 11^th Annual Symposium. The GLSRP tracks drowning statistics, teaches “Water Safety Surf Rescue” classes, and leads the “Third Coast Ocean Force” rip current awareness campaign on the Great Lakes.

MORE INFORMATION about the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH – List of Businesses and Organizations

2012Great Lakes Drownings

(11 as of March 15th)

(Info provided by the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project)

LAKE MICHIGAN:

1. Sun. 01/08 John Doe M-30s Chicago

2. Tue. 01/24 Brittany Finley 22-F Oak Creek, WI

3. Sun. 02/05 John Doe M-20s Chicago