Re: [Paddlewise] PressHerald report today

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:46:31AM -0700, Doug Lloyd wrote:
>  The omission of PFD's are the usual exclusions cited in these
> reports. Next comes experience (or lack thereof) followed by inproper
> immersion apparal.

I was sitting across table from Charlie Walbridge on Tuesday (whose name
I trust is familiar to everyone in this context) and he was discussing
the rough statistical breakdown of paddler fatalities.  The bulk of those
are associated with novice/recreational paddlers who, as you pointed out,
lack experience and gear, notably PFDs and cold water clothing, and often
paddle in adverse water/weather conditions *because* they're novices and
don't recognize them as such.  He said that based on his analysis of
those accident reports, half of those fatalities would have been avoided
if the paddlers had been wearing PFDs.

Half isn't "all" of course, but it's a good start.  This is why I've
adamantly argued for years that we should all be wearing PFDs every
time we paddle *no matter what the circumstances*, because (in addition
to the obvious reasons) we're thereby providing a highly visible and very
consistent example to others.

And people do learn from observation.  I have lost count of the number of
times I've done ad hoc rescues of PFD-less canoeists/kayakers/etc. on the
rivers I frequent and then pointed out to them that I'm wearing my PFD.
I sometimes mention that I would appreciate it if they'd wear theirs
because if our roles are reversed, they're not going to be able to help
me, and that hardly seems fair.  In just about all cases, that's enough
to get them to pick up the oufitter-issued PFD that I know is lying
in their boat and put it on.  Maybe next time they'll put it on at
the put-in.

One down, a million to go.

---Rsk
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