Atlantic Canada saw more than 30 water-related deaths in 2018
There were over 30 unintentional water-related deaths in Atlantic Canada according to unofficial statistics from Canadian Red Cross.
The 2018 year saw 39 deaths, and on average from 2012 to 2017, the Atlantic provinces, collectively, averaged about 38 unintentional water-related deaths. However, compared with the averages for the preceding five years, 2018 saw a significant decline in such fatalities in New Brunswick, a small increase in Nova Scotia and a significant increase in Prince Edward Island, while the Newfoundland and Labrador figure equalled its average of the previous five years.
In 2018, P.E.I saw six water-related deaths – four more than the 2012-2017 average. In P.E.I., four of the six fatalities involved commercial fishing vessels including two that collided in June and one that capsized in September. The other cases were a Quebec tourist swimming at an unsupervised beach near Cavendish, and a man who died following a watercraft collision in Charlottetown. The Canadian Red Cross examines a range of sources including police, media and social media reports and obituary notices to produce the statistical figures for unintentional water-related fatalities in 2018. Unintentional water related deaths include drowning, hypothermia, pre-existing medical conditions or trauma injuries and excludes known or suspected suicide.
In New Brunswick, fatalities included a man from Maine whose kayak overturned in the Bay of Fundy, another man whose canoe overturned on a lake near Musquash, and a father and daughter who died after a raft overturned in rapids on the Miramichi River. There were four in total.
In Nova Scotia, seven of the 16 fatalities involved commercial or recreational fishing. Four cases involved recreational boating and two occurred while recreational swimming. There were also rare circumstances such as a woman who fell through ice while skiing across a lake, a driver whose dump truck slid into Halifax harbour while unloading fill, and a toddler who drowned in a backyard pool. In Newfoundland and Labrador the 13 recorded fatalities include eight associated with commercial or recreational fishing or boating; three involved recreational swimming; a woman collapsed after entering the Humber River to cool off during extreme heat in July; and a man died after a vehicle left a road southwest of Terra Nova and crashed into a lake in November.
Males ranging in age from two to 78 accounted for the 33 of the 39 fatalities and woman ranging in age from 29 to 82 accounted for the other six.
The Canadian Red Cross has compiled a few steps to reduce the risk including:
– Wearing a personal floatation device while boating, riding an ATV or snowmobile or working on or near any body of water – Not consuming alcohol or drugs before or while swimming, boating, snowmobiling or riding an ATV
– Staying off frozen lakes or rivers unless certain that ice thickness I sufficient for activities like walking, skating or snowmobiling
– Installing four-sided fencing with self-closing/locking gates around backyard pools
– Taking swimming lessons Additional information including research reports and water safety tips can be found online at redcross.ca/swim.