Two weeks ago in the column I reported 41 water related fatalities that I knew of this year. The count is now 50. Coast Guard officials around Lake Michigan report that their fatality numbers have doubled from last season. Nearly all these fatalities share a commonality—they could have been avoided.

After nearly two decades of reporting water related accidents and fatalities, I’m convinced the leading cause of recreational marine accidents is lack of situational awareness. People simply fail to understand that the marine environment is inherently dangerous despite how inviting it might appear. I often quote Commander Roger Dubuc, former assistant director of search and rescue on the Great Lakes, and prior Commander, Group Grand Haven “How fragile the nature of human life is in an always dynamic and dangerous marine environment,” said Commander Dubuc. So true. Too often during an emergency people are suddenly overwhelmed and even more often they are void of a plan of action.

Another aspect I’ve observed both as a safety columnist and Coast Guard rescue responder is how quickly calamity can strike on the water. This proved so in the recent drowning death of a three-year-old boy in Millennium Park in Grand Rapids; also in the drowning death of a nine-year-old boy in Lake Michigan off Holland State Park. In both drownings, the children were under adult supervision. Yet in an eye blink they perished while their guardians were reportedly distracted. But distracted or not, could the guardians have executed a successful rescue had they observed the struggling child? Watching is one thing; successfully responding, another.

I live within walking distance of Lake Michigan and often swim in the lake. On occasion, I watch adults overseeing kids in the water. I wonder what would they do should an emergency arise. At times, I observe children a hundred yards or so off shore atop sand bars. Should misfortune strike, how could they reach the child in time? I doubt I could. What might appear as someone in close reach could seem miles away while battling the waves to reach them.

If I had the responsibility of overseeing a child in the water, I would consider these factors: could I reach the child in an emergency, and, if so, could I handle the pandemonium. Handling a child or adult in death’s throes in water will overwhelm the average person. Several years ago off Warren Dunes State Park several adults attempted to rescue a 12-year-old boy struggling in the surf. He survived; the adults drowned.

The safest way to handle a thrashing person in the water is flotation. I would have readily available a flotation device with a line attached to toss to the child. A good toss could cover 50 or so feet; it would provide a means to pull the child to safety. Of course, the child would be in waist high water because while establishing my situational awareness parameters, I accounted for time and distance required to reach the child.

Situational awareness applies to boaters as well. A number of recent boating fatalities involved individuals separating from boats and drowning. What would a boater do should he or she face an open water emergency with a person overboard. Jump in? Hardly. Or maybe he or she would if instinct, not reason, seized the moment—a sure formula for disaster.

On Sunday, August 21, 2005, a seven-year-old girl jumped off a pontoon boat adrift on Glenn Lake in Leelanau, County. A finger of wind had snatched the ball cap off her father’s head and she jumped in to retrieve the hat. Her father, age 49, jumped in to assist her back aboard. He managed to get the child back aboard along with her 10-year-old sister who had also leaped in to assist. He, however, drowned as the boat drifted off.” The girls were wearing life jackets but not the father. I actually wept. Oh, what will it take for people to realize the inherent dangers of the marine environment.

I discussed situational awareness with Robert Lapp, a fellow retired Coast Guard Chief. He told me that just the other day he had anchored his 30-foot powerboat off Manistee’s First Street beach. Aboard was a 10-year-old boy who was eager to swim to shore. Lapp’s depth finder read four feet. Still, he directed the lad to wear a life jacket. He also entered the water with a Coast Guard approved flotation device. “The water was not four feet as the boat’s depth finder indicated. Both of us were over our heads,” said Lapp.

They headed for shore and received another surprise. “The beach appeared closer until we hit the water; then it seemed much further away,” said Lapp. Thank goodness for Lapp’s situational awareness honed by 22 years of Coast Guard search and rescue experience. Both had donned flotation, which led them safely ashore.

Situational awareness saves lives. I plead with anyone who nears water, enters it, or plies upon it please consider what he or she would do during an emergency especially with someone struggling in the water. If you hesitate, that could be the time it could take to trigger a lifetime of regret. Be water wise- assess the situation before it assesses you.

Other Boat Smart stories may be found at www.boatsmart.net
Article by: Tom Rau

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