By Jeff Labine

Northern youth learn water safety in P.A.

Feb 24, 2017 | 2:00 PM

When Brianna Yew went to the beach in her home community of English River First Nation, she never gave a second thought to running into the water.

But after the 12-year-old attended a water safety course in Prince Albert this week, she said she knows now to be a bit more cautious.

“You got to check for hazards,” she said. “Now I know that. I remember getting hit by glass. I was running into the water when I was like eight years old. That’s what we always use to do.”

Brianna was one of more than 10 youth from northern communities who attended a week-long training session hosted by the Lifesaving Society Saskatchewan at Marion Aquatics. Brianna said her community has one river with a strong current but there is a lake with a beach where locals usually gather during conferences.

She said she didn’t know much about water safety before attending the session in P.A.

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“I learned how to do [chest] compressions like how many to do, how many breaths to take,” she said. “I learned how to carry [people] out of the water properly when you are unconscious in the water.”

Courtney Domoney, the education director for Lifesaving Society Saskatchewan, said they have been hosting the symposium for six years.

The not-for-profit organization covers the cost for northern community members to attend the symposium held once a year. The society covers hotels, food and other amenities as the youth, who are between the ages of 13 to 18, complete the training.

The total cost for the symposium is roughly $8,000 and includes pool rental fees.

Domoney said the training saves lives.

“It is difficult to compact all this information and all this training into a week but these kids have been very receptive and very great at learning and picking up and taking the feedback we have been giving them,” she said. “Drownings in this province do happen in the North. Giving these youth the knowledge that ‘hey maybe it’s not safe to skidoo when the ice is kind of thin because I know what will happen if I fall through the ice.’”

Domoney explained during the summer months, instructors visit the communities to provide more education opportunities. She said she and the other instructors would like to provide more symposiums throughout the year but can’t because of finances.

According to Lifesaving Society Saskatchewan’s website on drowning deaths in the province, at least 20 drowning deaths occur each year. Nearly 50 per cent of these drownings happen in lake, 17 per cent in rivers, 12 per cent listed as other, 11 per cent in ditches, eight per cent in bathtubs and four per cent in pools.

Domoney added she would like to see that number go down to zero.

“My personal goal at the end of the day is for [the youth] to stop and say ‘is this OK?’” she added. “At the end of the day, even if we save one life that means a lot to me.”

Email: Jeff.Labine@jpbg.ca.

On Twitter: @labinereporter.