Nunavik police offer lifesaving devices to prevent drowning
Police found traditional life-jackets weren’t widely used; program aims to keep people safe on water
Nunavik Police Service has found traditional life-jackets are not popular among people going out on the water, prompting police to raise awareness by handing out belt-like personal flotation devices in all Nunavik communities. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Nunavik Police Service is distributing 420 personal flotation devices among communities across the region to raise awareness of water safety.
Capt. Tony Paquet, who led the project, said police realized that traditional life-jackets were not being widely used by people who regularly go out on the water.
“Another reason is the multiple deaths that happened in previous years,” he said of the motivation for the project, in a French-language phone interview.
Flotation devices, he said, “could have saved their lives.”
That’s why Nunavik police, in partnership with the Kativik Regional Government, chose to distribute the personal flotation devices.
Instead of a life-jacket or vest which may be cumbersome to wear while fishing, the personal flotation device is worn around the waist like a belt.
It has a cord which, when pulled, inflates the device with carbon dioxide. The wearer then pulls the inflated jacket over their head.
“It is a nice alternative to have this model,” said Paquet.
He said Mustang Survival Inc., which provided the flotation devices, indicated they can work well in temperatures as low as 0 C. In colder conditions, the carbon dioxide has difficulty filling the device.
At -10 C, the device may only fill partially so a tube was added to allow the wearer to manually blow air into it. In even colder temperatures, the flotation device is less effective.
Paquet said multiple communities have already received their flotation devices.
They were notified on local radio stations when police officers would visit to distribute the devices. On site, the officers demonstrated how the belts work and gave them to people who wanted one.
“It was very popular,” Paquet said, adding one group left to go boating as soon as they received their belt devices.
Nunavik police and KRG plan to carry out a similar initiative next year, focusing more on devices that fit people age 16 and younger. The flotation devices being distributed this year are for adults only.
Paquet secured funding through the Ungaluk program offered by Makivvik and KRG. The program provides $10 million a year for projects that are related to criminal prevention.
“It is encouraging that this [initiative] was well received by people,” said Paquet. “There is a tool now for people to survive if ever they fall in the water, or in the case of an accident.”
If actually believe people aren’t using lifejackets because they get in the way while fishing, I got some news for you
For being safe on the water, it is important to dress for immersion. In the Arctic, that typically means a full-body flotation suit.
Good on the flotations devices and hopefully they’ll be worn by the people who got them. I am curious though how buying these devices got funding from the Ungaluk Safer community fund which is there to support “Crime Prevention”. I am very curious about that because we put in a proposal to Ungaluk last year to provide therapeutic mental health working shops to community members in Nunavik include people who have been incarcerated. The reason given when the proposal was turned down by the Ungaluk committee was because “it did not meet the Ungaluk criteria for funding”. Very puzzling!