SUMMER: How to keep yourself safe in the water – and how to help someone else who might be in danger

| Safety | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from a 2019 water-rescue callout)

Summer weather is finally about to arrive, and with it, more people will be out on the water. That makes this prime time for reminders. First one is from the WSB inbox, sent by Jay:

It’s drowning season. The weather is nice and people both new and experienced are going out to Alki on paddleboards and kayaks not appreciating how cold the water is.

At a bare minimum the safety gear is a life jacket and a leash for paddleboards. A wetsuit, even a thin one, is helpful as well (dress for the water, not the air). A whistle can get people’s attention when you have a problem.

But life jackets don’t look cool in Instagram photos, and a lot of people think the water is just cold and not as dangerously cold as it really is. Or they get overconfident.

(A day before emailing) I rescued a paddleboarder who had been in the water more than five minutes and had given up trying to get back on the board. If it weren’t for a beachgoer who had seen her fall in and called my attention, there’s a good chance she would have died. She had no life jacket and no leash.

There were a dozen paddleboarders out when I was paddling and zero of them besides me had a lifejacket or leash on their ankle.

Second reminder is from the Seattle Fire Department – how best to help them help someone in trouble in the water, whether you’re helping from land or from a boat. Read SFD’s advice/recommendations here.

CarDriver June 19, 2022 (4:29 pm)

Life jackets and a signaling devise-horn or whistle are LEGALLY required. Paddleboarders could (and should) be cited for not having. I’m betting the stores selling and the business renting don’t explain that. Also, PLEASE make sure of what you’re seeing before calling for help. Been TOO MANY stories in WSB of people on shore calling for help when the person in the water is NOT in distress. If 1st responders are responding to a false alarm they aren’t available to respond to a real need.

WSB June 20, 2022 (10:43 am)

Please read the linked advice from SFD. “Don’t wait – call 911 immediately to get resources on the way.” Yeah, there are occasionally false alarms. Better a false alarm than a life lost.
Jay June 20, 2022 (1:08 pm)

Call 911 immediately. There’s a good chance that woman would have drowned if I hadn’t been there for a couple on the beach to flag down and point out where she fell in. At that point it had been well over five minutes in the water. They should have called 911. You don’t get much time in this freezing water before your muscles stop working. You only get about ten minutes before you become incapacitated and slip under the water. It’s important to call 911 the moment you realize a person is struggling to get out of the water, at Alki a boat will probably arrive in time if you don’t wait. I can’t imagine any emergence response team that wouldn’t prefer a false alarm over a body recovery.

Eddie June 19, 2022 (5:28 pm)

Washington State Boater Education Card (passing test score) required to legally operate any boat with 15hp or larger.Paddleboarders and the like must have PFDs and other required safety equipment such as a sound producing device.

Lauren June 19, 2022 (8:31 pm)

A life jacket saved my husband’s life last year. He’s an experienced swimmer. Stay safe, everyone.

22blades June 20, 2022 (5:28 am)

Great article! Hint from the boating world. Physically point to the distressed & keep pointing, either yourself of designated person. Don’t take your eye off. Snapshot also helps triangulate.

Scubafrog June 21, 2022 (6:51 pm)

Definitely a great article. The cold in the Puget Sound is under-estimated, or forgotten. I can’t count how many paddle-boaters I see on warmer days, sans life vests, with only a bathing suit. They get a distance out in the Sound, too. I haven’t had to call 911 yet thankfully due to one gone overboard, but I certainly keep my eyes open.

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