Being on the ice right now could lead to a situation where you fall in.
Christopher Love, Water Smart coordinator for the lifesaving society Manitoba Branch, says if you are near the water you should have a water safety plan that should include taking a friend, keeping children within an arm’s length, and alcohol or other intoxicants are huge factors in drowning deaths in Manitoba.
Brian Kotak, managing director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, says it’s a good idea to have an emergency kit when ice fishing or hunting. The kit should include a waterproof bag with something to start a fire such as a match or lighter, a signalling device in case a search team is looking for you such as a mirror, and a blanket or something to keep warm.
Love says the top 3 activities people are involved in before drowning are land, ice, or air transportation, the second one is boating, and the third is non-aquatic. All three categories have people that are not intending on getting in the water.
Those three categories cover 70 percent of drowning deaths in Manitoba.
