Canadian Red Cross injury prevention wins Marine Safety Award
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“I am pleased to recognize the Canadian Red Cross injury prevention program as this year’s award recipient,” said Baird. “Their accomplishment has had a significant impact on Canadian marine safety - it has helped to prevent injuries and saved lives.”
The Red Cross injury prevention program received the award for the successful completion of a drowning research project examining 10 years of data. The results of this report received prominent media coverage this year, offering clear support to public education around Canadian marine safety. This research provides the marine industry with injury prevention strategies to help reduce drownings as a result of boating incidents in Canada.
Since the late 1980s, Canadian Red Cross has been a leader in drowning research, examining the long-term trends as well as annual data. In 2002 Red Cross published a 10-year analysis to provide greater insight into the trends in drownings. In June 2009, the final modules of the 10-year report were released – documenting the trends related to powered and unpowered boating, and fishing.
“We are honoured to accept this award from Transport Canada,” said Rick Caissie, national director of injury prevention for the Canadian Red Cross. “This recognition underscores the significance of our research and will further our public education initiatives and our mission to prevent water-related injuries and fatalities.”
In the spring, the Canadian Red Cross will be providing Transport Canada with a comprehensive historical report that summarizes recreational boating incidents resulting in fatalities. Currently, Red Cross provides monthly media monitoring reports to Transport Canada, which assist in tracking incidents as they occur.
The Transport Canada Marine Safety Award was established in 1997 to promote awareness of marine safety in Canada and to recognize those who have contributed to this objective in an exceptional way.
Internationally, Canadian Red Cross’s collection and analysis of water-related fatality research is viewed as being of the highest quality and standard. All modules of the 10-year drowning trends report can be found online at www.redcross.ca/drownings.
