You may have read about a new study that our partners Lifesaving Society have recently released as part of National Drowning Prevention Week July 17 to 24. If you haven’t, then here’s a good summary:

“Swimming is the most popular water activity, yet almost a third (31%) of new Canadians are nervous around water and half (50%) of new Canadian parents fear their children may drown.” –Lifesaving Society

When you add the fact that BC has the second highest annual rate of water-related fatalities (84 fatalities/year – Lifesaving Society), it’s clear that the possibility of drowning should be on the minds of British Columbians.

I’ve blogged about the perceptions people from different cultural backgrounds have towards injury prevention. I’ve interviewed people of Czech, Chinese, Sri Lankin, and Filipino backgrounds, and they’ve all had different experiences and attitudes towards injuries and preventing them.

One constant is that they have all had some sort of injury prevention education while living in Canada (some more than others). We can only hope that today young British Columbian immigrants are being given water safety tips like these on boating from the Lifesaving Society:

Cold water is deadlier than you think. Prepare for the shock of cold water – always wear a lifejacket.

Alcohol and boating do not mix. Leave the alcohol on shore.

Check the forecast. Return to shore immediately if bad weather approaches.

Another constant I found in amongst my interviewees is that a lot of their attitudes towards safety actually come from elements outside of formal education like family, friends, or media announcements like the ones put out by ourselves and the Livesaving Society.

I’d like to conduct my own informal survey on attitudes towards injury prevention.

How have you learned about injury prevention around water and in general? Have you learned these things from your family, friend, school, media, or some other way?