A leading cause of death in kids 14 and younger in the United States is drowning. The future of America rests in our children. They are our “hope” for the future.

Unfortunately, not enough is said about child water safety. Who knew these alarming statistics are part of the national fabric?

Keep Hope Afloat, a division of the PFD Charitable Foundation, a 501c3 aims to elevate this issue of child water safety starting with the most popular sport and boat shows in the region. From there, the foundation plans to expand the program regionally, and then nationally.

In the winter of 2006 something important happened that inspired this foundation. Mustang Survival, the pre-eminent manufacturer of personal floatation devices (PFDs) in the world, joined The O’Loughlin Trade Shows to distribute 10,000 premium life vests to kids around the N.W.

They did it through the O’Loughlin’s popular N.W. sport and boat shows, starting with the Portland Boat Show, one of the largest shows of its kind in the West. Rupert Boneham, of Survivor fame, came to Portland and helped launch the campaign. Kids and their parents lined up by the thousands as they filed through a short course on water safety and learned how to properly size their life vests.

These weren’t cheap PFDs that would never be worn. From the outset, the O’Loughlins wanted to do it right and spent $250,000 to purchase the life vests from Mustang that retailed at $60 each. Mustang participated by extending an aggressive discount to the O’Loughlins.

The program made its way north to O’Loughlin’s Monroe Sportsmen’s Show, where another 5,000 kids showed up for the vests. So popular was the giveaway that more vests had to be ordered to meet the demand. Today, more than 10,000 kids are safer because they’ve received some much-needed education as well as a comfortable vest they’ll wear whenever they head to the water.

From this effort was borne an idea unlike any other in the country. It was to create a charitable foundation that would not only distribute life vests and impart a vital educational message to kids through shows like the O’Loughlin’s, but also provide a PFD recertification program and PFD loaner program --- the first comprehensive PFD program of its kind in the United States.

The recertification program will encourage owners of used PFDs to bring them to sport and boat shows and turn them in. Those PFDs would then be delivered to the PFD Charitable Foundation who, in turn, will deliver them to the U.S. Coast Guard who is responsible for recertifying the vests.

Once recertified, those PFDs will be used in a variety of loaner programs ranging from high risk swimming areas to popular boating destinations around the country. Alaska currently provides a similar loaner program that’s been well-received. Other similar efforts are being conducted around the country. The goal of course, is to extend every opportunity for optimal water safety to both youth and adults.

Initially, starting in 2007, the PFD Charitable Foundation will identify 5 locations in Oregon and Washington in cooperation with the Oregon State Marine Board and Washington Parks & Recreation to launch the PFD loaner program.

Keep Hope Afloat has already partnered with the National Safe Boating Council’s “Sidekick” program. The Sidekick program is a national kids boating safety awareness campaign which uses the Internet (www.boatingsidekicks.com), outreach materials distributed through targeted boat and sport shows and boating events, as well as a materials provided to the boating industry at-large. The “Sidekick” emblem will be appearing on all Keep Hope Afloat PFD’s in 2007.

Through grants and awards, the PFD Charitable Foundation seeks to land $1 million in contributions in its first year. This will allow the foundation to quickly develop outreach materials and expand their distribution network across the West and further.

Given the current child death rates we need to move quickly. Immediate attention is of the utmost importance. From the Center for Disease Control:

For every child 14 years and younger who dies from drowning, five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries. More than half of these children require hospitalization (CDC 2005). Nonfatal drownings can cause brain damage that result in long-term disabilities ranging from memory problems and learning disabilities to the permanent loss of basic functioning (i.e., permanent vegetative state).

Among children ages 1 to 4 years, most drownings occur in residential swimming pools (Brenner et al. 2001). Most young children who drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time (Present 1987).

Boating carries risks for injury. In 2004, the U.S. Coast Guard received reports for 4,904 boating incidents; 3,363 participants were reported injured and 676 died in boating incidents. Among those who drowned, 90% were not wearing life jackets.

NY Times Article – July 25, 2006

In 2003 (the last year for which statistics are available), drowning was the fourth leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 14, after motor vehicle accidents, cancer and birth defects, and the second leading cause of accidental deaths in that age group, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

In most states in 2003 drowning was the second or third leading cause of accidental death for children 14 and younger.

From CNN.com – 10/6/06

MULE CREEK CANYON, Oregon (CNN) -- Fifty people have drowned this year in accidents during trips down whitewater rivers in the United States, where state-by-state safety laws can be spotty.

The 50 deaths this summer are approaching the recent high of 57 in 2003, according to the nonprofit American Whitewater organization's Web site. It's the third time in the past 12 years that 50 or more people have died in whitewater accidents in the United States.

Despite its new law, Oregon has had five rafting deaths this year on just one river, the Deschutes, which flows out of the Cascade Mountains to the Columbia River. There was a sixth rafting death on another river and two kayak deaths on the Rogue River.

Salem-News.com (Jun-25-2006 18:39)

4th Drowning Victim of Weekend

Salem-News.com

Record temperatures send many to the water for relief, but without the proper safety devices.

(OREGON CITY) - Another apparent drowning has occurred, with the report of a 12-year old girl missing in Roslyn Lake, near Oregon City. Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Marine Rescue and The Clackamas County Water Rescue Consortium are on scene actively searching the lake, and say that four girls, ages 12, 13 and two 17-year olds, were wading in the water about 100 yards from the shore with no life jackets, and waded into a deep hole.

From emedicine.com

Drowning claims nearly 8,000 lives annually. It is the fourth leading cause of accidental death in the United States. For children, it is the second leading cause of accidental death for school-age children and the number one cause for preschoolers.

Two-thirds of drownings happen in the summer months: 40% occur on Saturday and Sunday. Some 90% occur in fresh water even in states with large coastal regions. More than half of these cases occur in home swimming pools.

Older children age 1-4 drown in swimming pools, while those age 5-14 years tend to drown in lakes, ponds, rivers, and oceans.

States with the highest drowning rate are Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon, and Florida.

Contact:
info@keephopeafloat.org
Send donations to:
PFD Charitable Foundation
Keep Hope Afloat
P.O. Box 80944
Portland, OR 97280-1944