SAFETYfirst by michael pardy


TROUBLED WATERS Do statistics reveal the truth about our safety record?


The ACA reports that in 2000, only 27 kayak fatalities occurred in the U.S. Twenty-seven deaths is tragic, but with 6.4 million people participating (according to the OIA) the annual fatality rate is only 0.42 per 100,000—low in comparison to personal watercraft and insignificant in comparison to automobiles. Americans are 35 times more likely to die driving.


So kayakers may feel pretty smug about their safety record on the water. One might suggest the basic message of the statistics is simple—sea kayakers are not at high risk of dying so long as we are wearing PFDs, not consuming alcohol, and exercising caution if we choose to fish from our kayaks.


However, we all hear stories of near misses told around pub tables. And if you speak to emergency response personnel such as the Canadian Coast Guard you learn that kayakers do get into trouble. We simply live to tell about it.


T


he growth in sea kayaking over the last 10 years has been astounding. Once the domain of the eccentric few, sea kayaking has blossomed into a popular, mainstream pastime. Research from the U.S.-based Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) shows a 400-percent increase in kayaking participation between 1998 and 2000, with the largest growth in the touring sector. Our sport’s increased profile has resulted in closer scrutiny by governing agencies such as the Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association (CRCA), the American Canoe Association (ACA), and coast guards on both sides of the border. The ACA recently completed Critical Judgment, a review of canoe and kayak fatalities in the U.S. from 1996 to 2000. The report’s “good news,” perhaps, is that 75 percent of all the fatalities were associated with canoes, not kayaks. And, interestingly, 50 percent of canoe and kayak fatalities happened while the victims were fishing. The Canadian Office of Boating Safety for the Canadian Pacific Region compiles an occasional recreational boating fatality report that confirms these findings—there are higher fatality rates for canoes, and most fatalities involve alcohol and lack of PFD use.


When touring kayakers make mistakes the consequences are typically not death, but rather


of the current, or the (relative calm) of the ocean swell to the challenge of the surf. The paddlers either did not anticipate this transition, or underestimated its power. The consequences are usually not fatal but result in mild hypothermia, bruising, muscle strains and fear. Second, many if not most kayak incidents actually happen in and around the campsite—out of the kayaks. The Adventure Program Risk Management Report by the Association for Experiential Education in the U.S. indicates that slips and falls accounted for over one third of all accidents between 1991 and 1997. When we look at the most common types of injury in the backcountry—strains, sprains, soft tissue injuries, and factures—the likelihood of these injuries is greatly increased in camp. Logs, rocks, roots, stoves, knives and slippery seaweed are just a few of the objects that have resulted in injury requiring medical treatment and even evacuation. And when sea kayakers venture into more remote locations, simple problems become more complex because of


Most kayak incidents actually happen around the campsite.


fear, anxiety, hypothermia, and minor and major injuries. When we exceed our abilities, make bad judgment calls or suffer a misfortune, we usually rescue ourselves, or rely on the services of other kayakers, fishermen, or the Coast Guard. And we avoid becoming statistics. So good accident statistics don’t exist for kayakers. We are left to piece together accident reports from club newsletters, books, magazine articles and conversations with rescuers. Doing so reveals a couple of important trends about how sea kayakers get into trouble.


First, kayakers most often get into trouble on the water because they unexpectedly travelled from an area of calm water to an area of active water— from the shelter of the bay to the challenge of the headland, the shelter of the eddy to the challenge


the increased challenges in communication and transportation and delays in getting help. We have fatality data to tell us that our sport is statistically very safe. The next step is to collect better information about the kinds and causes of real problems faced by sea kayakers. With information about the trends that make accidents happen, we may better guide regulation and training, make better decisions and further increase our margin of safety.


Michael Pardy is co-author of the Handbook of Safety and Rescue and a founding director of SKILS Sea Kayak Instruction and Leadership Systems, which offers professional training and certification programs across Canada. He can be reached at skils@shaw.ca.


22 Early Summer 2004


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