I am a former lifeguard and swim instructor I know first hand the benefits of life jackets and water safety. Please give your kids the gift of being able to swim and the knowledge oh how to be safe around the water. Get your children into swimming lessons! You can and should start them at 4 months. This is the best time to start them as they are very comfortable in the water and you get are with them! (Its a great bonding experience between parent and baby as i found out from bringing my own two children). My two have been in lessons at every opportunity (excluding the summers when it gets busy in the van Mil house) even redoing certain levels because they just weren’t old enough to advance; just to keep them in the water and learning those life saving swimming skills. Nothing replaces parental supervision of your children around all bodies of water ( a child can drown in a little as 15″ of water) but you can at least buy yourself some time when you do see them fall in or in trouble.
Here is a link to the Red Cross swimming levels courtesy of the City of Oshawa site : http://www.oshawa.ca/mun_res/recreation/swimming-descriptions.aspKeep safe and have fun around the water like it should be 🙂
if you ever see an oversized lifejacket walking around your community, you’ll know Buckles is in town!
Buckles is the Canadian Red Cross mascot for water safety. He gets around the country quite a bit too. He’s been to Timmins, ON; last summer he did a road show in Atlantic Canada; he golfed in Calgary and visited Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia. He even got to pose with Snoop Dogg (well, not really — we photoshopped Snoop’s head in there).
This summer, we took Buckles to meet our friends in the Moose Cree First Nations community in Northern Ontario. Buckles was a hit up there!
At the Red Cross, we love Buckles because he reminds all of us – kids and adults – how important it is to wear lifejackets and stay safe while having fun in and around the water.
Would you like to see Buckles in…
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Paramedic Mike 