Old4New lifejackets to save lives this Spring

Wearing a life jacket never ruined a day on the water and studies have found that wearing a lifejacket doubles a person’s chance of survival once immersed in water. Royal Life Saving Society WA has partnered with the Department of Transport (DoT) to promote the importance of boaters wearing lifejackets when out on the water.

Royal Life Saving Society WA Senior Manager Research and Health Promotion, Lauren Nimmo, says “over the past 10 years, 57 people have drowned in Western Australian waterways whilst participating in a boating activity. What is concerning is that the majority of boaters weren’t wearing a lifejacket at the time of the incident.”

The Old4New lifejacket campaign visited the Mindarie Marina Boat Ramp last Saturday morning, with local boaters and fishing enthusiasts taking their old lifejackets to trade for new slimline self-inflating ones at a discounted price.

The Old4New campaign was launched at the 2016 Hillarys Boat Show and had a very successful attendance, which lead to selling out after 15 minutes. Since then over 800 lifejackets have been upgraded and a further 1,182 discount vouchers have been provided to people in regional WA to upgrade their lifejacket at a local retailer.

Mark Folkard MLA, Member for Burns Beach is a Royal Life Saving Swim and Survive Ambassador. He attended Saturday’s exchange event and says “as a volunteer surf life saver, I am thrilled to support this event. Serving as a police officer, I’ve seen first-hand the consequences of boating accidents and attended scenes with Marine Rescue where deaths and injuries could have been prevented if lifejackets had been worn. Lifejackets save lives, and I encourage everyone in the community to upgrade their lifejackets before going out on the water this summer.”

More information about the Old4New lifejacket program can be found at the link below.