Professor Popsicle Headlines Safe Boating Symposium

Cold water is a major contributor to recreational drowning deaths year after year and most of the water in Canada is cold year round. That’s the challenge Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht (aka Professor Popsicle) will address during the Canadian Safe Boating Council’s annual symposium in St. John’s September 22 to 24.

“The fact that the sun is shining and it’s 25○ C out doesn’t really mean much if you fall out of your boat and find out that the water temperature is 5○ C,” says Dr. Giesbrecht, a world-renowned expert on hypothermia from the University of Winnipeg. Two 1 day workshops will provide first responders with education on treatment, transporting and re-warming hypothermic victims as well as the realities of thermal protection. Actual in-water demonstrations of the effects of cold water  will emphasize the importance of quick response to a cold water immersion incident. Other topics on the agenda of the Canadian Safe Boating Council’s symposium include the issue of mandatory wearing of a lifejacket or personal flotation  device (PFD) while boating; and presentations from Captain Tony Patterson, President of Virtual Marine Technology, a St. John’s-based company providing marine training simulators and expertise to clients around the world, and from Noel O’Dea, President of the award-winning local company Target Marke
ting & Communications, on social marketing techniques and their potential for encouraging safe behaviour on the water.

The Canadian Safe Boating Council is a not-for-profit organization committed to making boating in Canada safer through education and awareness. More information can be obtained at www.csbc.ca.

For further information contact CSBC Chair Bob Minielly at 705-826-2021 or minielb@rogers.com