Water Rescue - Seconds Matter!

Hopefully none of us ever have to help with a water rescue when someone is drowning. It happens much too quick. Having rescue equipment readily available to areas prone for drowning is CRITICAL to preventing deaths. The Marquette MI area alone is very small area with deaths EVERY YEAR attributed to drowning, and the truth is it is usually from FAILED RESCUE EFFORTS.

Drowning doesn’t just happen on rocky outcroppings when the weather is bad, and sometimes it is not because of intoxication, a dive gone “bad”, underwater currents, or anything obvious. It happens to good swimmers, to parents who just turned their back for a split second, and even on crowded beaches with people watching, waiting for someone else to step in. This can happen to anyone. In seconds.

The statistics regarding drowning and water related deaths in the Great Lakes are eye-opening: check out the link here: http://www.glsrp.org/statistics

It is surprising that more areas don’t have even a life jacket or a throw ring available to rescue someone. Often the swimming hole is plastered with signs warning “no swimming”, and we all know some people are fueled by what “not-to-do”. People will drown. Are we ready to rescue them? How long do we wait for someone qualified to get there? If we have only seconds, we can’t rely on trained people to get there in time.

But some of this equipment can be expensive! Here is a water rescue kit for sale by Swift Water Rescue for $2800

http://www.allhandsfire.com/Resqmax-Swiftwater-Rescue-Kit?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqYfWBRDPARIsABjQRYwYA8eNxuuPVTnk7jAOe_t-IRzPtp5zdtSlLjt-ZZsgOEA9pQy4yVgaAjO2EALw_wcB

So not only do we have to figure out who will pay for it, part of the problem with having this type of rescue equipment, is who do we trust with it? Where do we store it? Intoxicated college students that will probably shoot another person with it, or waste valuable equipment? Is it easy to use by a bystander or will it take additional training such as EMS? These are all questions that need to be explored at a local government level.

Here is an example of a water rescue gun used to shoot out an inflatable device to a drowning victim, or establish a line for swift water rescue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2TxmPLlKM 

MickyFinn is dedicated to seeking these products and raising money to make them readily available at public beaches, particularly in the Marquette, MI where it has personally hit home for us.  You can do more than purchase MickyFinn products to help: If you are at rummage sales, thrift stores, and you see life-saving equipment (life jackets, throw rings, etc): please bring it to your favorite swimming area.

Or feel free to contact us at MickyFinnLLC@yahoo.com and we would be happy to find an appropriate place for it. Until we can find a way to provide fancy water rescue equipment, a simple life jacket on a string could save someone’s life.

 

These are clearly marked, easily accessible not only for keeping equipment readily available, but making it harder for anyone to misuse the property. Lets face it, if it would happen in one of these small college towns in the UP none of us would be shocked. We all hope we could have life saving equipment that wouldn’t get vandalized, but it’s a risk worth taking if it saves one life! You can’t put a price on that!