Image via Wikipedia
It’s a rush of water, a dive beneath the surface — you’ve flung yourself from the edge of a pool, flail happily among the chlorine. It was an easy impulse, a wish to experience relief from the summer. The ripples beckoned; the promise of being cold thrilled; and you jumped without concern for the depth…. or your lack of experience.
You can’t swim: this is an unfortunate truth and one that can’t be denied as you struggle in the water. Slick walls defy your fingers; a floor sprawls too far away to balance against; and the rumble of the drains is deafening. You’re trapped.
And this is when you rely on a flotation device to save you.
Too often is the notion of a floatation device dismissed — especially by adults. Life jackets, buoyancy aids, compensators and more are deemed unnecessary. Their styles don’t please; their designs don’t impress. They instead conjure images of bobbing uselessly in a pool, unable to move under the weight of straps, locks and bulky foam.
The necessity of these devices is without question, however. Those not yet able to swim (without knowledge of at least one stroke) must wear some form of protection. These items maintain safety – reducing the possibility of drowning by over 90 percent.
Such a statistic can’t be ignored: even as adults may wish to, thinking these aids render them suddenly childish. Precaution isn’t offered only to youths, however. It’s instead needed for all — and floatation aids ensure that accidents are greatly (if not almost entirely) reduced.
