CRD will consider introducing flotation devices on lakes

The Capital Regional District Parks Commission is recommending a pilot program to place life jackets and lifebuoys — but not lifeguards — at two local lakes.

On Wednesday, CRD staff recommended a pilot program for personal flotation devices and lifebuoys in Lake Thetis and Elk/Beaver Lake.

Despite renewed calls for hiring lifeguards after a teenager drowned in Langford Lake this month, a staff report did not recommend reviving the lifeguard program, which ended in 2002 at Thetis Lake and in 2003 at Elk/Beaver Lakes.

The decision to withdraw them was influenced by budget constraints, difficulties in recruiting qualified lifeguards, and trends among municipalities and other park agencies.

“I am pleased to support this motion,” said Saanich Councilor Judy Brownoff. “I know they’re not lifeguards. But I believe this pilot project will be the first step.”

The committee unanimously recommended pilot programs at Thetis Lake Main Beach and Hamsterly Beach on Elk Lake/Beaver Lake. The matter will now go to the CRD board, whose next meeting will be on July 10.

The staff report indicated that pilot programs could be implemented immediately through the rest of the summer season under the current $35,000 budget for communications campaigns and outreach for regional parks and trails.

Staff noted that “there are no funds in the 2024 and 2025 budgets” to cover the cost of lifeguard services.

The Lifesaving Society of BC and Yukon has estimated that implementing lifeguard services from May to September could cost more than $270,000 per beach, for a total of $1.3 million to implement the program at the five busiest freshwater swimming areas.

According to the BC Coroners Service, there were 32 accidental drownings on Vancouver Island in 2023 – more than any other region of the province.

Dr. Murray Fyfe, health officer at Island Health, said 2023 was the worst year on record for drownings on the island, with more than double the number in 2021.

“We are very concerned about the upward trend on Vancouver Island,” he told the parks commission.

Drownings increased across British Columbia last year, with the highest total number of drownings in a decade at 101, according to the Coroner’s Service.

Most deaths were related to boating, falling into water, or swimming, and most occurred in rivers and streams (28%), lakes and ponds (28%), and the ocean (20%). Bathtubs accounted for 12 percent, and hot tubs and swimming pools each accounted for four percent.

And while alcohol and drug data for 2023 is not yet available, between 2013 and 2022, alcohol and/or drugs were found to be a factor in 39% of accidental drownings.

In an interview, Kimiko Hirakida, director of programs and services for the Lifesaving Society of British Columbia and Yukon, said she would like to see personal flotation devices and lifebuoys on all public beaches. She said the society is working with CRD on lifeguard employment opportunities.

Hirakida stressed the need for visible hazard warning signs to be continuously displayed on public beaches, with symbols that are understandable to people speaking different languages.

“Even if you can swim in a pool, it’s not the same as swimming in open water,” she said. “That’s why it’s really important to understand the dangers of open water and do an assessment of the area to make sure you know the water depth, the water temperature and any changing conditions.”

See Chief Constable Paul Hurst told the Times Colonist that every time a drowning occurs, paramedics are called to Lake Thetis.

“I don’t know if they’re the answer and I don’t know if they’re not,” he said.

Hurst said lifeguards can provide some with a false sense of security, recalling a time when lifeguards patrolled a roped-off area at Lake Thetis and some parents left children unattended.

He added that even with lifeguards present, accidental drownings can occur outside patrolled areas, such as when people jump from cliffs on Lake Tethys.

Hurst supports the idea of ​​having life jackets and lifesaving equipment available, education and signage, but says people also need to take personal responsibility. Many people who almost drowned or drowned did not know how to swim or were not good swimmers, he added.

The McCreary Center’s 2023 Youth Health Survey shows that nine percent of young people in North America cannot swim at all, and another 29 percent cannot swim confidently.

According to a staff report, CRD park rangers and bylaw officers are currently working with law enforcement partners, including police and fire, to address unsafe behaviors such as alcohol/drug use and cliff jumping. This will continue.

This summer, the Lifesaving Society’s Water Wise team, with funding from Island Health and support from CRD staff, plans to visit key CRD regional parks to promote water safety.

Fyfe told the CRD committee that there is a lifeguard at one beach in Nanaimo and one in Cowichan. “These programs have worked,” he said, noting that less than one percent of drownings occur on guarded beaches.

He said there is no single approach to water safety. “These should be multi-level preventive measures,” he said. “We need to take a multi-pronged approach.”

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