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Province nears 40 drownings, experts urging safety around all water

“Never be alone,” says Raynald Hawkins, Quebec’s Lifesaving Society, of people who are swimming. With National Drowning Prevention Week underway and recent tragedies in the province, Alyssia Rubertucci with how to keep yourself and your kids safe.

By Alyssia Rubertucci and CityNews Staff

MONTREAL (CityNews) – Swim institutes and the Lifesaving Society in Quebec are speaking out about water safety as the province has seen 39 drownings so far this year alone.

That include the death of a 13-year-old teen, who died at a public pool after being found unconscious in the early hours of July 17.

With national drowning prevention week underway – experts warn it’s important to be aware of the dos and don’ts when around pools and bodies of water.

In 2020, COVID-19 keeping people home, and a warmer summer, there have been 95 drownings in Quebec, compared to the 59 in 2019. This year, the province is on track for a similar situation.

“With the construction holiday, more people on vacation, more people swimming in lakes, going out boating, refreshing themselves in streams, going to swimming pools, there is an increased opportunity for accidents to happen,” said Adam Di Fulvio, president & CEO, Montreal swim institute.

“We are in the pandemic situation again. A lot of Quebecers stay home to do their vacation and also I can see the impact of learn to swim programs,” said Raynald Hawkins, Directeur général chez Société de sauvetage. “A lot of youth one didn’t follow swim lessons since the last 15 months and we didn’t deliver swim to survive programs for grade three and four.”

Some say all drownings are preventable, and the best people to help prevent them are the adults in a child’s life.

“The parents who have the responsibility to supervise the kids and focus on that because drowning with youth is silent and could happen between 15 to 30 seconds,” explained Hawkins.

“I’m urging all parents out there to have a conversation with your kids about water safety. About never swimming alone, about making sure that they don’t go into any water they are not comfortable with or that they don’t know the depth,” said Di Fulvio.

But it isn’t just children to look out for, it’s adults too. The average drowning occurring in open water involves a male of around 39 years old.

Walid El Abid, 37, died when he drowned after falling off a boat in the St Lawrence River near Verdun on July 10. His body was found days later and he wasn’t wearing a life jacket.

“Never be alone. [It] doesn’t matter your age or doesn’t matter your aquatic or your boating activities you need to be with another person and for the boaters please wear your personal floatation device all the time. With only those two big messages we will see our numbers going down year after year,” explained Hawkins.

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