As summer grows ever closer, many people will be heading out onto various bodies of water for some aquatic recreation. With that in mind, Perry Parks and Recreation Aquatics Director Kami Kirchner offers some water safety tips.

First of all, whenever you’re out on a boat, she says it’s important to have life jackets for everyone present, and that those jackets fit properly. Kirchner says this is especially important for children who may be less experienced swimmers. Another point of emphasis is when someone is drowning and in need of rescue, it’s important for those in the vicinity to — as the American Red Cross advises — “reach or throw, don’t go.” Kirchner explains, “The basic idea of ‘reach or throw, don’t go’ is if someone is struggling in the water, it doesn’t matter who you are when you go to help them; they’re in panic mode, and nine times out of ten they’re going to push you under the water trying to help themselves. So if I am drowning and my mom comes to help me, I don’t know that it’s my mom I just see something that I can push on to get myself up to take a breath of air.”

Things that Kirchner says people can use to “reach or throw” include recreational tubes, oars, life jackets, water ski ropes, or an actual life preserver if you have one. She also emphasizes that it doesn’t matter how skilled of a swimmer you are, a drowning person can still take you with them in those circumstances. To learn more about water safety, click the link below to listen to the Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Kirchner.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/05/09/lets-talk-dallas-county-5-9-2019-kami-kirchner/