Health eMinutes

Keeping Children Safe - Loaner Life Jackets Available on Lake Minnetonka

Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14. However, a new program aimed at making sure life jackets are readily available is now underway.

Safe Kids Northwest Metro Minneapolis has launched its "Kids Don't Float" campaign which loans out life jackets on the honor system to those who may have forgotten or misplaced their own. The life jackets are currently available at three strategically placed locations on Lake Minnetonka.

"It's our hope that by providing the public with these life vests, we can reduce the chance of a child drowning or getting severely injured on the lake," says Alison Pence, coordinator of Safe Kids Northwest Metro Minneapolis. A study of nationwide drowning deaths in 2004 revealed 55 percent of children ages 14 and under who drowned in boating accidents were not wearing life jackets.

"As kids get older, their chance of drowning increases due to their reluctance to wear a life jacket," adds Pence. In Minnesota, children under the age of ten are required by law to wear a personal floatation device while actively boating. "Having the life jackets readily available at the boat launches will allow for no excuses by the children or their parents," says Pence whose role as injury prevention program coordinator at North Memorial also includes educating children on water safety.

The life jackets, which come in multiple sizes, are available at well-marked loaner stations at three different boat launches on Lake Minnetonka:
Orono: Maxwell Bay, County Road 51/North Shore Drive
Minnetonka: Gray's Bay, Hwy 101/Gray's Bay Blvd E.
Spring Park: Spring Park Bay, County Road 15 and Sunset Drive

The life jackets can be taken for all-day use, with the understanding that they will be returned to the loaner station when the participants leave the lake.