How to stay safe in the water

July 5, 2024
In 2023, 101 people accidentally drowned in B.C. By following these tips and precautions, you can keep you and your loved ones safe around water this summer.

With hot weather returning to the B.C. Interior this weekend, people will be flocking to lakes, rivers and swimming pools to cool off. There’s no better time to revisit water safety to keep yourself and your children and family safe around water this summer.

“According to the most recent B.C. Coroner’s Report, there were 101 accidental drowning deaths in B.C. in 2023, of which 24 occurred in the Interior Heath region,” notes Interior Health’s (IH) deputy chief medical health officer Dr. Silvina Mema. “The report also states that between 2013 and 2023, 30 per cent of all deaths occurred in the IH region, including 29 in Okanagan Lake in that 10-year period.”

The most common reasons for drowning deaths from 2013 to 2023—accounting for 18 per cent each—were boating, falling into the water and swimming, and close to 80 per cent of people who died were male. 

Men over the age of 18 and children under five are at the greatest risk of drowning.

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