Adults still refuse to wear lifejackets or PFDs, but insist that their children put them on. The Lifesaving Society, Canada's lifeguarding expert, reports annually on water-related injuries and deaths. The Society is a national charitable organization working to prevent drowning through its training programs and Water Smart public education campaign. Last year the Newfoundland and Labrador Branch of the Society certified over 1700 individuals in its lifesaving, lifeguard and leadership courses. Common factors in both incidents were snowmobiles and traveling on ice-covered bodies of water.
Ice conditions play an important role in ice-related deaths.
The two kinds of conditions most often involved are thin or soft ice, and open holes. Victims in most ice-related incidents either plunged through thin ice or into an open hole in the ice. Incidents involving open water suggest the involvement of other risk factors - excessive speed and poor visibility. Other risk factors include water conditions, which affect ice thickness, uniformity and structure, alcohol involvement and the lack of specific safety equipment. The latter contributes significantly to ice-related deaths.