CRITICAL JUDGMENT II · newsstands and to individual subscribers. PPI also publishes a quarterly...

CRITICAL JUDGMENT IIUnderstanding and Preventing Canoe and Kayak Fatalities

1996-2002

Acknowledgements

Co-AuthorsDr. Alison Snow-Jones, PhD, Assistant Professor, Wake Forest School of Medicine

Gordon Black, ACA Safety Education and InstructionPamela S. Dillon, ACA Executive Director

David Jenkins, ACA Conservation and Public Policy

ContributorsVirgil Chambers, National Safe Boating Council

Dr. Gary Green, PhD, Research Project Manager, USDA Forest ServiceJonathan D. Nylen, Graphic Designer and Layout

Cheri L. Nylen, ACA Safety Education and Instruction Program ManagerBruce Schmidt, US Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety Statistician

Dr. Alison ChapmanBrandan Hardie, ACA Communications Manager

Photo CreditsWiley Wales

Avant Marketing, Charlie WilsonDagger, Inc.

ACA Stock PhotosTammy Kelly

This project made possible through support provided by theNational Safe Boating Council

© 2004

Charles E. Wilson, ACA PresidentPamela S. Dillon, Executive Director, ACA

ACA Board of Directors 2004Mike Aronoff Kirk Havens Paul SanfordConnie Blackwood Jerold Kappel Nita SettinaDarren Bush Robert Kauffman Ed SharpPatti Carothers Jeff Liebel Christopher StecJeff Dionne-Dickson Elaine Mravetz Greg WolfeSam Fowlkes Joe Pulliam Peter Zern

Liaision Board MembersEd Councill, Professional Paddlesports AssociationMatt Menashes, Professional Paddlesports AssociationJohn Malatak, United States Coast GuardDavid Mason, USA Canoe/Kayak; Councilor’s Roundtable

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

About the American Canoe Association

Foreword:By the National Safe Boating Council

I. IntroductionSidebar: Adventure & Managing RiskSidebar: The Paddle’s Many Paths

II. Canoeing & Kayaking: An OverviewThe Experience

Participation--Who Paddles and Why-The Numbers-Future TrendsUnique Hazards-Watercraft Size and Stability-Perception of Skill Required-Impact of Weather Conditions-Low-Head Dams-Strainers (Sweepers)-Whitewater and Surf Zone-RemotenessManaging the Risks-Basic Safety Knowledge-Proper Gear and Clothing-Paddling Skills-Rescue

III. U.S. Canoe and Kayak FatalityAnalysis 1996-2002

IntroductionOverviewAccident TypesAccident Causes and RiskFactors-Occupant Movement / WeightShift-PFD Use-Water and Weather Conditions-Operator Experience-Alcohol Use-Man-made Hazards-Other VesselsAccident VictimsHuman Error and CanoeAccidentsConclusions- A Note About Risk

IV. ACA Strategy to Reduce Canoeand Kayak Fatalities

-Reaching Accident PronePopulations-Crafting Effective Messages-Expanded Delivery ofInstruction-Public PolicyRecommendations

V. ReferencesACA Programs & ResourcesGlossary

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American Canoe Association, Inc7432 Alban Station Blvd Suite B 232

Springfield VA 22150www.acanet.org1-703-451-0141

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Mission: The American Canoe Association (ACA) is a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated topromoting canoeing, kayaking and rafting as safe and enjoyable lifetime recreation, while working to protect andpreserve the waterways on which those activities depend.

History: Founded in 1880 by a small group of avid outdoorsmen in the State of New York, today ACA is thenation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization serving the paddlesport community. ACA also holds thedistinction of being the oldest recreation-based waterway conservation organization in America and ranks amongthe country’s oldest sporting organizations.

Membership: ACA currently has more than 50,000 individual members enrolled in a variety of membershipcategories, with an additional 50,000 individuals affiliated through a nationwide network of local ACA-affiliatedpaddling clubs.

Program Areas: The primary mission-based programs and services provided by ACA include: safety educationand instruction; waterway stewardship and access; athletic competition, recreation and public education.

Safety Education & Instruction Activities: Historically, ACA has been at the forefront of promoting boatingsafety, providing safety education and maintaining a nationally recognized program of paddlesport instruction andcertification. Working in concert with the U.S. Coast Guard, American Red Cross, National Safe Boating Counciland others, ACA provides a comprehensive range of programs, publications and other materials toward this end.ACA currently certifies approximately 4,000 ACA Instructors in various types of canoeing, kayaking and rafting.Each year ACA Instructors deliver the ACA program to an estimated 100,000 individuals participating at thestudent level.

Waterway Stewardship Activities: ACA is dedicated to the preservation and protection of America’s naturalareas, focusing primarily on rivers, streams, lakes, coastal waterways and their surrounding environments. ACA isactive in a wide variety of efforts from promoting stewardship to advocacy on issues important to paddlers. ACAweighs in on resource management plans, public land funding and policy issues, water quality standards, pollutionlimits, user conflicts, and recreation related fee and access issues.

Paddlesport Recreation: ACA sanctions more than 700 paddlesport events annually. ACA’s Programs andSpecial Events department recruits and services corporate sponsors associated with such events. ACA eventsrange from instructional clinics and other small local events to many of the largest, most visible event properties inpaddlesport.

Publishing Activities: Working both independently and through its subsidiary, Paddlesport Publishing, Inc., ACApublishes a wide range of periodicals, books, videos and other paddlesport-related media. Its lead publication,bimonthly Paddler magazine, is published through PPI and currently has an estimated readership of 225,000readers per issue. A full-color publication, Paddler is provided as a benefit to ACA members and is also sold onnewsstands and to individual subscribers. PPI also publishes a quarterly trade magazine (Paddle Dealer) and thebi-annual whitewater magazine Kayak. In addition to the publications produced through PPI, ACA publishes 18book titles, 9 videos, and a host of other informational and educational literature.

About the ACA

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Forewo rd From the National Safe Boating Council

The National Safe Boating Council has a vital interest in the content of this examination ofcanoe and kayak accidents by the American Canoe Association. This report addresses theknown risks in this popular and growing form of recreational boating, and providesimportant recommendations for prevention measures. All can benefit from heeding theimportant, over-arching message derived from this report; in most cases fatalpaddlesports accidents are preventable.

Any paddler can capsize. The novice paddler, especially, should consider capsize part ofthe sport. As you review the information in this document, you will see that what overallpaddler preparation and response to a mishap were keys factors that determined the finaloutcome. Paddler behavior such as wearing a properly fitted life jacket (personal flotationdevice), dressing suitably for the experience (critical when boating on cold water), avoidingalcohol, and selecting a waterway commensurate with ones’ experience, could prove to bethe difference between just getting wet or never going home. What is intended to be anenjoyable activity can turn tragic if wrong choices are made.

Canoeing and kayaking are enjoyable forms of recreation that should be promoted to all.The newest paddlers need access to information on intrinsic risks and how to be safe.These risks can be calculated, diminished, avoided, or managed through awareness,education, and training. Reading through the report, these conclusions are clear.

Thanks to the American Canoe Association for analyzing and presenting this importantlook at paddlesport accident statistics. The ACA, from their position as the leader inpaddlesports, has relayed important findings to the national recreational boating safetycommunity on this growing segment of recreation.

Virgil ChambersExecutive DirectorNational Safe Boating Council

The National Safe Boating Council is a national non-profit 501c3 advocacy membership organization thatprovides a forum for advancing and fostering safe and enjoyable recreational boating. The NSBC promotesthe need for research initiatives that support boating education and safety awareness. The American CanoeAssociation is a long-time organizational member of the NSBC, and the organizations share a common goalof boating safety education and outreach.

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Introduction

Canoeing and kayaking continue to be amongthe fastest growing recreational activities in theUnited States. Kayaking is growing faster thanany other outdoor activity on land or water. As aresult of their popularity, canoeing and kayakingrepresent an ever-larger proportion of boatingactivity on the nation’s waterways. This growthtrend resulted in a regrettable number ofcanoeing- and kayaking-related fatalities asexplored in the first edition of Critical Judgment:Understanding and Preventing Canoe andKayak Fatalities. This trend will be furtherexplored in this second edition.

is well beyond that of most boaters. Mostcanoeing and kayaking enthusiasts wearpersonal flotation devices (PFDs), travel withother experienced paddlers, dress properly forconditions, and have taken courses in paddlingtechnique, safety and rescue.

Concerned with the fatality numbers attributedto canoeing and kayaking, ACA continues itsreview of canoeing and kayaking fatalitiesreported to the United States Coast Guard(USCG). Accident descriptions suggest that alarge portion of canoeing and kayaking fatalitiesinvolve people who have little or no experience

To understand andaddress canoeing andkayaking fatalities, onemust first understand thewide variety of specificactivities that areincluded under thebroader category of“canoeing andkayaking.” This categoryincludes pursuits such as extended wildernessexpeditions, challenging descents of whitewaterrivers and multi-day trips on the open ocean.These adventurous activities have more incommon with backpacking and mountainclimbing than with most other forms of boating.Also included in “canoeing and kayaking” areseemingly milder activities, such as a casualpaddle on a lake, a float down a gently flowingriver, or a fishing trip. These milder activities havebroad appeal, and are participated in by a verylarge portion of the population.

Since its inception, the American CanoeAssociation (ACA) has been working to improvepaddlesport safety. It has done so by helpingtrain and certify canoeing and kayakinginstructors, and by disseminating safetymessages and information to ACA members andother paddlers who are within the organization’sreach. This dedicated effort has helped producea safety ethic among experienced paddlers that

even consider themselvesa “canoeist” or a “kayaker”and therefore do not seek

out paddling-specific safety information.

In order to address more effectively the safetyneeds of all people who take a canoe or kayakonto the water, and to better reach those athighest risk, the ACA conducted furtherresearch into the specific details of andcontributing factors associated with canoeingand kayaking fatalities. This report documentsthe findings, provides relevant information onthe nature of paddlesport, and makesrecommendations on how to reduce canoe andkayak related fatalities.

In this report, the ACA also provides importantinformation about the nature of canoeing andkayaking and about the recreational goals ofthose participating. Because of paddlesport’ssteady growth over the past decade, it isimportant that lawmakers and boatingregulators develop an understanding of thisdiverse sport. Understanding the unique nature

Provided courtesy of Tammy Kelly

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with canoes or kayaks, wholack fundamental paddlingskills, and who have notbeen effectively reachedwith safety messages.Many of those who diewhile using a canoe or akayak probably do not

Introductionof canoeing and kayaking, and the objectivesof those who participate, will help these officialsto more effectively address paddlesports-related issues and to recognize when certainrules and regulations governing other boats—such as motorized craft—simply are notrelevant to small human-propelled boats. Mostimportantly, by understanding the uniquechallenges associated with paddlesports, theseofficials can help improve paddler safety.

Critical Judgment II represents the next chapterin ACA’s ongoing effort to reduce the numberof fatalities that occur while canoeing andkayaking. It provides an informationalfoundation that will help individuals concernedwith canoe and kayak safety to developprograms and messages that can effectivelyreach those who are most at risk.

C. E. Wilson; Avant Communication

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Adventure & Managing Risk

While adventure and exploration are steeped in the nation’s history, in recent years the popularity ofadventurous outdoor activities has grown like never before. The variety of adventurous activitiesavailable to the public is equally unparalleled. Common tickets to adventure include mountain biking,rock climbing, backcountry skiing, scuba diving, backpacking, mountaineering, surfing, ice climbing,skydiving, wilderness canoeing, ocean kayak touring, and whitewater kayaking.

These activities, while diverse, all share the allure of adventure and its many benefits. Outdooradventure teaches self-reliance and personal responsibility, it causes participants to challengethemselves physically and mentally, and rewards the effort with a unique personal satisfaction. Forthose who are not enticed by these adventurous activities, the pursuit of them may seem too risky - oreven crazy. That view is typically an uninformed one, lacking any knowledge or understanding of thetraining and skill level of those engaging in such activities.

Adventure is largely about managing risk. The keys to managing any risk are knowledge and skill. Awhitewater paddler skilled at running the most challenging rapids and waterfalls has spent countlesshours in practice, recognizes hazards, has prepared for possible mishaps, and is in an environmenthe or she knows and understands. An inexperienced and unskilled person who takes a canoe outon a placid lake or a gentle river is arguably at higher risk than the experienced and skilled adventurer.The absence of skill, experience and sound judgment creates a greater likelihood of errors, while at thesame time leaving absolutely no margin for errors.

While casual paddlers do not require the same level of skill and knowledge as the most adventurous,they should emulate the adventurers approach to managing risk. Developing paddling skills,understanding the environment one is in, and taking safety precautions (such as wearing a PFD) arethe practices of the most capable athletes, failing to do so are the practice of the foolhardy.

The Paddle’s Many Paths

There are many types of canoeing and kayaking.This diversity is present in vessel type, paddlingtechnique, and in the waters that are traveled.Here is a list of the most common varieties:

Flatwater Canoeing – This is canoeing on alake, reservoir, slow flowing river, or otherrelatively calm body of water. Falling within thiscategory is everything from taking out a rentalcanoe out on a lake for a few hours, to going ona multi-day canoe journey down a gentle river.

Recreational Kayaking – Like flatwatercanoeing, this type of kayaking occurs on flat orslow moving water. It is characterized primarilyby the use of slow and stable recreationalkayaks. These kayaks are fairly inexpensive,wide, and usually have a flat-bottomed hull.This is the fastest growing segment of the kayakmarket. Some consider recreational kayaking tobe an entry level of kayak touring.

Kayak Touring – This category of kayaking,sometimes referred to as sea kayaking,includes such diverse activities as day kayakingon a small lake, multi-day kayak excursions, andkayaking on the open ocean. Touring kayaks aretypically long, sleek, have storagecompartments, and are designed for speed andefficiency. These kayaks are often used for longexpeditions and are very sea worthy.

Whitewater Canoeing – Is canoeing on riversand streams with fast current and rapids. Itoccurs on everything from mild, bouncy class Iand II rivers, to raging class IV and V rivers. Alltypes of canoes are used on very mildwhitewater, but paddling more difficult whitewaterrequires the use of canoes specifically designedfor whitewater use. Whitewater canoes aredesigned with more rocker for quick turning andaccommodate the use of floatation bags to keepwater out and improve buoyancy. Somewhitewater canoes are decked and resemblewhitewater kayaks.

Whitewater Kayaking – Is kayaking on riversand streams with fast current and rapids.

Whitewater kayaks are less than 12 feet inlength, typically made of plastic, and can takepaddlers into the deepest, wildest gorges,through powerful rapids, over waterfalls as highas 80 feet, and down raging flood-swollenrivers. Whitewater kayakers are always on thecutting edge of navigation. Over the past 20years technical advances in the design ofwhitewater kayaks has turned once unrunnablechasms into popular play spots.

Squirt Boating – The main objective of squirtboating is, as odd as it seems, not to play inthe surface waves of whitewater, but to play inthe underwater currents created by rapids.Squirt boats are low volume kayaks, typicallymade of fiberglass or Kevlar, that function bestjust below the water’s surface.

Wilderness Tripping – Is the taking ofextended canoe or kayak journeys deep intowild, uninhabited landscapes. These journeysare typically longer than a week and require theuse of large canoes or kayaks that have a lot ofstorage space.

Surf Kayaking – This activity utilizes shortkayaks, similar to those used on whitewater, tosurf ocean waves. Surf kayakers try to catchand surf waves the same as traditional surfersdo, the main differences are that the kayakersare sitting down and use a paddle for steering.

Outrigger Canoeing – Very popular in Hawaii,this traditional south pacific type of canoeingutilizes a canoe with an outrigger. Theoutrigger canoe is very stable and used forgeneral recreation and competition on the openocean.

Canoe Sailing – Just like it sounds, this is thesailing of canoes that have been outfitted witha sail. The sport of canoe sailing dates back atleast to the 1800s.

Poling – In most river canoeing the objective isto travel downstream, the objective in poling isto travel upstream utilizing a canoe and a longpole.

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Canoeing and Kayaking: An OverviewThe Experience

The joys and benefits of paddling a canoe orkayak are many and the reasons people aredrawn to paddling are equally varied. Each yearthousands of people contact ACA expressinga desire to take up canoeing or kayaking. Manyof those people share with ACA staff thereasons they want to pursue these activities.Some want to escape the noise and stress ofeveryday life by exploring the rivers or lakesnear their home; others seek a means toventure into the wilderness; exercise is anobjective for many paddlers, as is observingwildlife, playing in whitewater, plunging downsteep creeks and over waterfalls, andnavigating the open ocean. There are alsothose who use a canoe or a kayak in activitiessuch as photography, fishing, or social outings.

Canoeing and kayaking enthusiasts do nottypically view themselves as part of the broaderboating community. For them, canoeing andkayaking are self-reliant forms of recreation andpart of a human-powered outdoor recreationcommunity that includes hiking, backpacking,mountain biking, rock climbing andmountaineering. Through their eyes paddlinghas as much in common with other forms ofboating as hiking does with driving a car. Casualpaddlers are more likely see themselves astraditional boaters, but some of these peopleconsider a canoe or kayak to be a simple, toy-like object that requires little or no skill tooperate.

Canoes and kayaks take people to places theycannot reach by using a map, including theinternal places of the mind and spirit. No otherform of boating provides a more intimateexperience with the water and its surroundingenvironment than does canoeing and kayaking.Whether one knows the joy of paddling a canoeacross a wilderness lake - miles from thenearest person, splashing a kayak into the frothof a whitewater stream, or exploring a placid

cove less than a mile from home, their lives areforever enriched by the experience.

Participation

Who Paddles and Why

Throughout history mankind has paddledcanoes and kayaks for many reasons. Thesesmall craft were used by Lewis and Clark toexplore the west, by fur traders to transport theirpelts to market, and by the Inuit peoples of thearctic to hunt seals. Today the reasons peoplepaddle these craft are even more diverse. Thereis no typical profile of a person who goespaddling in a canoe or kayak.

Skilled and experienced paddlers are typicallyenthusiasts for whom paddling is a majorpastime. These paddlers are drawn to one ormore paddling activities (see sidebar: ThePaddle’s Many Paths) simply because they enjoya particular aspect of paddling. Some are naturelovers who view these non-motorized vesselsas the best way to experience the natural world.Others enjoy the mystery and discovery ofexploring the nation’s many remote waterways.Paddlers seeking an adrenalin boost typicallygravitate towards whitewater activities such asrunning steep creeks, jumping waterfalls andfloating big powerful rivers, or towards coastalactivities such as playing in surf, exploring seacaves, and tackling big waves in the open ocean.

More casual paddlers are often drawn tocanoeing and kayaking for the simple pleasuresof solitude, relaxation, family fun, and exercise.People also use canoeing or kayaking as ameans to engage in other activities such asfishing, hunting, or even partying. Casualpaddlers can be people who have taken paddlingseriously enough to develop good paddling skillsor they can be people who barely know whichend of the paddle to place in the water.

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Canoeing and Kayaking: An OverviewJust as diverse as the objectives and skill levelof people who canoe and kayak are thedemographic profiles of those people.Paddlers transcend all walks of life, incomelevels, geographic location, age, race and sex.Avid paddlers can be found among the ranksof doctors, lawyers, college professors, militaryofficers, Governors, and members ofCongress. Former Attorney General JanetReno and the former Administrator of theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA),Christine Todd-Whitman are both avidpaddlers. Participation in paddlesports wasonce higher among men, but recent dataindicates that today almost as many womenpaddle as men.

The Numbers

A huge number of Americans participateannually in paddlesports, and this involvementincreases every year. In fact, kayaking is(according to the available studies) the fastestgrowing segment of the entire boatingcommunity with a growth rate of 272% overthe past nine years. The National Survey ofRecreation and the Environment (NSRE)found that, during 2003, millions of Americanswent paddling: 19.6 million paddled canoes,9.6 million paddled kayaks, and about 22.6million went rafting. These numbers suggestthat paddlesports makes up a substantialpercentage of the total annual participation inboating of any kind. The NSRE found that76.1 million Americans went out in some kindof boat in 2003. All three of these activitiesshow healthy growth over the last nine years,with canoeing growing from 13.8 to 19.6 million(49.93% more), kayaking increasing from 2.6to 9.6 million participants (272% growth) andrafting growing from 14.9 to 22.6 millionparticipants (51.9% growth).

Future Trends

These impressive participation figures giveevery indication of continuing to increase. The

NSRE projects canoeing will continue to growslowly and steadily from 1995 to 2020. Thisrise will be complemented by an even greaterincrease in the number of days those folkswill spend canoeing. In other words, not onlyis the canoeing population projected to grow,the number of days this population will spendcanoeing should increase even faster. Despitethe overall rise in canoeing, some segmentsof the canoe market are in dramatic decline.For instance, whitewater canoeing hassuffered a drastic drop over the last ten totwelve years. The Nantahala Outdoor Centerin western North Carolina was at one time thelargest whitewater paddling school in theworld. Whitewater canoeing made up half ofits classes in the late 80’s. By the late 90’s, incontrast, canoeing was responsible for lessthan 20% of its classes, and over the lastseveral years canoeing classes are only rarelyoffered.

Manufacturers, retailers, and outfitters, as wellas the ACA instruction program, all indicatethat out of all forms of paddlesport, kayakingis experiencing the most explosive rise indemand. Canoeists still outnumber kayakersabout 3 to 1, but with the relative growth ratesthat situation should not last long. Forexample, the decline in the Nantahala OutdoorCenter’s number of canoeing courses over thepast two decades has been easily offset bythe rising demand for kayaking instruction.This trend is apparent all over the UnitedStates, although there are “pockets” wherecanoeing remains very popular. The upperMidwest and the New England states remaincanoeing strongholds, possibly due to strongtraditions, and the type of paddling trip mostpopular in those regions—long trips withfrequent portages around rapids or betweenclosely situated lakes is much easier with aquickly unloaded and reloaded canoe thanwith a kayak. Unlike the canoeing marketwhere, despite the overall increase, certaintypes of boats (such as whitewater canoes)are becoming less popular, the kayaking

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Canoeing and Kayaking: An Overviewin many potential victims is that they don’tconsider themselves as “paddlers” per se, don’tseek out instruction, and often ignore paddler-specific safety education. For example, manyhunters who practice flawless gun safety ventureout into paddlecraft without adequate knowledgeof its risks and basic safety skills, or withoutpaddling safety equipment

market is rising across the board. Seakayaking, especially, shows healthy increases.This increase, however, is dwarfed by themeteoric demand for the inexpensive, easilyaccessible, and versatile “recreational kayak.”

Recreational paddlesport in its many forms iseasy to access in all 50 states and is generallyregarded as fun, healthful, non-damaging tothe environment, and inexpensive. For thesereasons paddlesport will continue to growrapidly in the near future. Furthermore,paddlesports has strong participation from avariety of demographic groups. For example,women make up nearly 50% of paddlesportparticipants (whereas in motorized craft, femaleparticipation is much lower). Minorities are alsowell represented. Furthermore, bothpopulations’ participation is increasing.

Unique Hazards

While the vast majority of paddlers have safe,enjoyable experiences, hazards do exist. Manyfactors can increase or decrease a paddler’sexposure to risk. Venue, conditions,experience, training, preparation and judgmentcan all play a part in how likely a paddler is tohave an accident. These factors are oftenrelated and a comprehensive approach tosafety can make the difference between a safe,pleasant day on the water and one that includesa brush with danger, an injury, or even a fatality.Since the risks inherent in paddlesport are oftendifferent from the risks of other watersports, itis important to know the unique hazards ofpaddling.

Water itself is one of the great, unrecognizedhazards. Because of the nature of the crafts,the paddler is more likely to end up in the waterthan other types of boaters. A responsiblepaddler should always assume that he or sheis likely to get wet. A vital part of enjoyingpaddlesports in a safe manner is theawareness that water can be cold and deadly.A serious obstacle to instilling this vital concept

Photo: Wiley Wales

Watercraft Size and Stability

The size and stability of canoes and kayaks arekey risk factors which far too many people donot fully appreciate. Being relatively small andnarrow, these craft require a special attention toissues such as balance and wave action.Inexperienced paddlers often make criticalmistakes such as standing in or leaning overthe edge of a canoe. These actions dramaticallychange the center of gravity and increase thelikelihood of a capsize.

Due to the size and stability of a craft, a certainlevel of skill and attention is required to safelynavigate in choppy waves, wind or strongcurrent. In today’s world people may be unwilling

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Canoeing and Kayaking: An Overview

to take the time and effort to acquire the basicskills and knowledge needed to operate a canoeor kayak safely.

Any circumstance that increases the likelihoodof a person swimming in the water without a PFDmay likely result in fatalities. Each year morethan 4,000 people in the United States die fromdrowning. Many of these fatalities occur in therelative safety of a swimming pool. It should beno surprise then, that when people end upswimming in the variable waters of a river, lakeor ocean without benefit of a PFD, a significantnumber of fatalities occur. The greater likelihoodof swimming associated with canoeing andkayaking, along with the other unique aspectsof these activities, brings into question the valueof viewing and approaching canoe and kayakfatalities the same as those resulting from otherboating activities.

Perception of Skill Required

The narrative descriptions of fatal canoeing andkayaking accidents reviewed by the ACA indicatethat many of the victims exhibited little or nopaddling skills and failed to practice even themost basic safety precautions. This raises aconcern that many people who operate a canoeor kayak do not take the craft seriously orperceive the associated safety risks. It appearsthat the simplicity of design that characterizes acanoe or kayak is often misinterpreted asoperationally simple or inherently safe.

Impact of Weather Conditions

The challenges presented by various weatherconditions are an integral part of paddling.Weather can have an enormous impact on theoperation of a canoe or kayak, particularly forthe inexperienced paddler. Wind can quickly turna pleasant paddle on a placid lake into a verychallenging paddle. Rain falling miles away canchange a calm river into a pushy torrent. Cold

weather and rain can sap a paddler’s energy,cause hypothermia, and greatly reduce themargin for error.

Experienced paddlers understand thesignificant role weather plays in canoeing andkayaking, and prepare accordingly. Checkingweather forecasts, knowing personallimitations, and wearing proper clothing,including a lifejacket, are key to having a safeand enjoyable paddling experience. Those whofail to understand and prepare for the risksassociated with different weather conditionssignificantly increase the possibility of a fatalaccident.

Low-Head Dams

Low-head dams are one of the most dangerousfeatures encountered by river paddlers.Unfortunately, these are common on manyrivers (not primarily whitewater ones) and oftendo not look overly threatening. In fact, thesedams can be virtually “invisible” from the lowsight angle afforded by a typical upstreampaddlecraft, until the boat is too close to thedam to escape the powerful currents. Thesedams are usually easy to avoid, but too manypeople are uninformed about their potentialdeadliness. Paddling literature and courses putspecial emphasis on the dangers of these damsand stress the importance of recognizing andavoiding them.

Strainers (Sweepers)

Paddlers on rivers and in ocean currents mustbe particularly cautious around trees or otherobstacles in the water that permit water to passthrough while retaining solid objects. Thecurrent can push boats or swimmers towardthe strainer, causing them to becomeentrapped. It is important that all paddlersunderstand the potential risks of suchobstacles, be able to recognize these hazards,and have the skills to avoid them.

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Whitewater and Surf Zone

Whitewater is created when fast moving waterflows over, around, or through obstacles in theriverbed. The gradient of a river increases thevelocity of the water and obstacles (riverfeatures) create wave action ranging from mildto extreme. Whitewater presents a whole setof challenges and hazards that cannot bethoroughly covered in this document. Thosewishing to paddle on whitewater rivers, evenmoderate ones, must seek competentinstruction and learn the risks involved. Mostwhitewater paddlers are adequately preparedand outfitted. A large percentage of the fatalitiesassociated with whitewater involve highlycompetent, well-outfitted paddlers who arechallenging themselves by attempting to paddlein extreme conditions. These paddlers aremaking an informed decision to exposethemselves to the many hazards found in theseconditions.

Many Coastal areas are subject to surfconditions that can be hazardous. Surfconditions change frequently, sometimes veryrapidly, and even moderate waves can bepowerful. Waves and/or current can pushunwary paddlers into obstacles such as rocks,piers, jetties, and other boats. Piers and fallenor floating trees form dangerous strainers andeven a sandy shore can be dangerous if aboater is propelled onto it out of control. Allusers of the surf zone - boaters, swimmers,fishermen and others - need a significant levelof knowledge and skill before venturing out.

Remoteness

More adventurous paddlers often seek outremote places to paddle and experience natureon its own terms. This remoteness can be aninaccessible river gorge only a few miles froma highway or it can be a vast wilderness a

hundred miles from the nearest person. Thisremoteness also greatly decreases a paddler’smargin of error. Even a minor miscalculation canhave fatal consequences.

The most common problem with remotelocations is evacuating an injured person. Thisis one reason experienced paddlers typicallyventure into these areas with other paddlers thatare equally skilled in wilderness travel and firstaid. In places like Alaska, kayakers are oftendropped by plane or charter vessel at wild andremote locations. In such environments paddlersmust carry extra rescue and medical suppliesin case weather conditions delay their return orprevent a scheduled pickup.

Managing the Risks

One basic way to improve paddler safety on thewater is to respect the power of natural forcessuch as current, wind, waves, and weather andto respect human limitations in the face of thesenatural forces. We don’t breathe water, so weall need to wear a life jacket. The water can coolus rapidly, so we need to wear adequateprotective clothing. Our muscle strength isnothing compared to the forces we will encounterwhile paddling, so we need to develop skills tohelp us work with the water, not against it. Inorder to know when the conditions are toothreatening, all paddlers need to be able torecognize and avoid hazards. Knowledge, andto some extent skills, can be learned from books,videos, signs, and other media, but the mosteffective means for passing along safetyinformation is through well-designed coursestaught by qualified instructors. Warning andinformational signs, books, videos, and publicawareness media campaigns should all stronglyrecommend that the participant seek competentguidance and instruction.

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Canoeing and Kayaking: An OverviewBasic Safety Knowledge

Safety is—first and foremost—an attitude. Theprudent paddler can recognize hazards, assessrisk, know his or her limits, and exercise goodjudgment. Beyond this safety first attitude,knowing the following important safety practiceswill help make any paddling experience a saferone. The prudent paddler should

Know the importance of wearing a PFD,regardless of one’s swimming ability.Never drink alcohol immediately prior to orduring a paddling trip.Understand the limitations of the vessel withrespect to size, carrying capacity, stability anddesigned purpose.Plan ahead. Research the venue; check theweather, and make sure skill level, equipmentand provisions are adequate for the trip.Know how to swim; even with a life jacket onbeing comfortable in the water is a bigadvantage in case an unexpected capsizeoccurs.Never paddle alone. There is safety innumbers. More eyes to look for hazards, moreminds to assess risk, more hands to help withrescues. Consider the skills of paddlingpartners and their ability to help in the eventof capsize.

Proper Gear and Clothing

Many of the annual paddling fatalities andserious injuries in the U.S. involve paddlers whoare ill equipped for the conditions. Hypothermia,for example, is a major threat but can be offsetby proper gear and a good knowledge of howto stay warm even when wet. It is essential thatall gear is well suited to the type of paddlingplanned. Canoes and kayaks vary widely in theirdesign and intended uses, and fatalities can anddo result from paddlers taking a craft designedfor a lake onto moving water or onto the ocean.Kayaks designed for open ocean-touring lackthe maneuverability required for runningwhitewater and can be quite hazardous if takenon rivers requiring “tight moves.” The manyissues involved in matching gear to conditionscannot be covered here, but it is essential toknow and respect a craft’s intended uses andlimitations.

The most important and basic rule of paddlingis: Wear a lifejacket (Personal FlotationDevice or PFD)! Unfortunately, this practice isnot ingrained in the minds of many casualpaddlers. This may be in part because of thePFD ethic people develop while operating largerboats. On these larger - typically motorized -vessels the operators often do not wear thelifejackets; they simply have them onboard.

Paddling Skills

A chief pleasure of paddlesports is that thepaddler relies only on his or her own physicalskills to propel the craft. Hazards, however, arisewhen paddlers do not have the skills needed. Itis imperative that all paddlers practice the skillsneeded to handle a canoe or kayak. Those basicskills should include

Knowing how to balance the boat and keepit from capsizing. This includes entering and

ACA Stock Photo

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exiting without turning over or falling out,and performing all maneuvers necessarywith the boat upright.

Being able to propel the boat in a (relatively)straight line.Being able to turn the boat in either directionquickly and efficiently – preferably, even inwaves and current.Being able to stop the boat’s forwardprogress, and back up at least a shortdistance.Rescue and recovery skills. A paddler shouldbe able to quickly perform a “self rescue,”and should be able to effectively assist withthe rescue of others (see Rescue below).

No one should venture out onto water withouttraining and assume that he or she is instinctivelyprepared to meet any circumstance. Experiencedoes not equate with knowledge or skill. Manypeople operate canoes and kayaks for yearswithout developing paddling skills or practicingbasic safety. Being lucky enough not to have anaccident does not make one a safe and capablepaddler. All paddlers should educatethemselves, either by reading available literature

or by seeking qualified instruction, preferablyboth.

Rescue

Because canoes and kayaks are smaller andhave a different hull design than typicalmotorized craft, the risk of capsize can be higherand avoiding capsize is more dependent on theskill of the operator. Recognizing this, allpaddlers must also know what to do in the eventof an upset and be skilled in getting themselvesand their gear to shore or back into the boat.Many kayaks and certain types of canoes canbe rolled back to the upright position aftercapsize while the operator is still in the craft. Indecked boats such as touring or whitewaterkayaks and properly designed and outfitted openboats such as whitewater canoes, rolling canallow the boater to continue paddlingimmediately. Learning and practicing self-rescueand recoveries are integral and importantresponsibilities of prudent paddlers.

Paddling with a well-trained and supportivegroup improves the safety of each member ofthat group. Some or ideally all of the groupshould be trained in rescue and recovery, havetaken first aid and CPR classes, and sharecommon goals and interests regarding thepaddling trip. Watching out for each other issimply an accepted part of paddling for allexperienced paddlers.

Photo Courtesy of Dagger, Inc.

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Table 1: Canoe and Kayak Fatalities byVessel Type, 1996-2002

Vessel Type PercentCanoe 72%Kayak 28%Total Observations 558

Note: Vessel Type unknown= 16Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating Accident ReportDatabase (BARD), 1996-2002

U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002

Introduction

This report includes six years of accident datafrom the US Coast Guard (USCG) BoatingAccident Report Database (BARD). There arechanges to the USCG criteria for reportableaccidents that could compromise thecomparability between date reported in the firstedition of Critical Judgment and data added forthis updated reports. These changes in criteriabecame effective May 25, 2001. Changes inreporting criteria applied to situational aspectsof boating accidents might expand the scopeof reportable accidents. Please note the USCGonly requires accidents that occur on publicwaterways, lakes and pond to be reported.

The changes in reporting criteria tend toincrease the number of reported canoe andkayak fatalities in 2001 and subsequent yearsdue to the expansion of situations in whichaccidents are considered reportable. A sizablechange in property damage dollar amount, from$500 to $2000, is not expected to affectreported numbers of canoe and kayak fatalitiesbecause all fatalities are required by the USCGto be reported regardless of property damage.

Overview

From calendar year 1996 through 2002, 574fatalities associated with canoes and kayakswere reported to the U.S. Coast Guard. For 16

of the reported fatalities, the exact type of boatpaddled was not reported. Among the 558paddling fatalities for which type of vessel isknown, 72% were associated with canoes(Table 1), down 3% from the previous report.The remainder 28% was associated withkayaks. Sea kayaks represented a very smallproportion of fatalities (1% overall and 5%among kayaks)

Table 2: Canoe & Kayak Fatalities by Year

Year Canoe Kayak Total Number1996 77% 23% 431997 72% 28% 831998 77% 23% 901999 77% 23% 792000 74% 26% 1032001 70% 30% 932002 58% 42% 67

Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating AccidentReport Database (BARD), 1996-2002

Exposure DataExposure is essentially the amount of time a vesseloperator spends operating a certain vessel. In 2000, aUSCG supported survey conducted by JSI Researchand Training Institute, Inc. attempted to assess thesafety risk associated with various types of boating bycomparing the number of accidents and fatalities withthe total exposure. Two factors play a role in theexposure rate associated with a particular vessel type.One is the total number of vessels of that type inoperation. The other is the amount of time operatorsspend operating the vessel. The JSI survey reportedthat canoeist and kayakers had a higher fatality rate perhours of exposure than other types of boating.

The ACA found a serious sampling error in this surveyand reported it to USCG. Both JSI Research andTraining Institute, Inc. and USCG acknowledge that thesampling method used for the JSI study relied tooheavily on registered boat owners and thus failed toaccurately assess canoe and kayak exposure data.Since only a small portion of canoes and kayaks arerequired to be registered, a survey of registered boatowners would primarily capture motorized boat ownersthat also happen to own a canoe or kayak. Theseowners would probably spend less time in a canoe orkayak than those who only own a canoe or kayak. TheACA provided USCG with contact information onpaddlers that will hopefully help the next surveyproduce more reliable results.

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The number of reported fatalities amongcanoes and kayaks had been increasing overtime. It is likely that in part this reflects increasedparticipation in paddle sports over the sametime period. However, data from the two mostrecent years indicate that this trend may havereversed. Another change is observed in theproportion of fatalities involving canoes. From1996 to 2000, roughly three quarters of reportedfatalities that involved a paddle-powered boatwere associated with canoes (Table 2). In 2002a distinct shift occurred in the number ofreported fatalities associated with kayakers and

overboard. Often a person standing or movingaround in a canoe loses his or her balance andfalls over the side of the canoe. Since these fallstypically capsize the canoe, the resulting accidentis classified as a capsize.

When examined by type of boat, it appears thatthere is no difference in probability of capsizesbetween canoe and kayak fatalities (Table 3). Alsothere was no firm evidence that alcoholconsumption increased the likelihood that afatality was due to capsize (Odds Ratio: 0.9,C.I.=0.6-1.5).

Interestingly, capsize fatalities appear to be aslikely to be found on calm water as on choppy,rough or very rough water. As can be seen fromTable 4, among all fatalities that occurred on“calm” water, 75% were capsizes. Amongfatalities that occurred on choppy, rough or veryrough water, 78% were classified as capsizes.

Accident Causes and Risk Factors

When evaluating the causes of canoeing andkayaking accidents and the risk factorsassociated with the resulting fatalities, the causesidentified in the USCG BARD are of limited value.Causes typically reported include: operatorinexperience, operator error, skier/passenger/other, alcohol, hazardous water/weather, and

the ratio of accidents associated with canoesdropped to almost one half.

Accident Types

The USCG data provide information on the typeand cause of boating accidents. Among canoesand kayaks, the majority of fatalities, 76%, wereclassified as “capsizes” by the USCG. Otherpossible classifications were “fell overboard,”collision with fixed or floating object, swampedboat, and “other.” Out of 574 canoe/kayakfatalities, 24 were not assigned to any of thesecategories.

A review of accident narratives indicates that asignificant number of canoe accidents classifiedas “capsizes” also involved a person falling

Table 4: Canoe and Kayak Capsize Fatalitiesby Water Conditions, 1996-2002

Water Did Not Capsized Total CapsizeChoppy 22% 78% 225Rough,Very RoughCalm 25% 75% 219TotalObservations 104 340 444

Pearson chi2(1) = 0.4 p = 0.5Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating AccidentReport Database (BARD), 1996-2002

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Table 3: Capsize Fatalities by Type of Boat,1996-2002

Boat Did Not Capsized Total CapsizeCanoe 24% 76% 393Kayak 22% 78% 143

Pearson chi2(1) = 0.2 Pr = 0.6Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating AccidentReport Database (BARD), 1996-2002

Table 5: Detail of Kayak Fatality Causes Based on Up to Three Reported Causes

Causes Canoe Fatalities Kayak FatalitiesHazardous Water / Weather (only) 20% 46%Operator Inexperience or Error (only) 22% 17%Skier / Passenger / Other (only) 7% 1%Alcohol (only) 8% 1%Hazardous Water / Weather + Operator Inexperience or Error 10% 16%Hazardous Water / Weather + Alcohol 2% 1%Hazardous Water / Weather + Other 4% 8%Operator Inexperience or Error + Alcohol 8% 5%Operator Inexperience or Error + Other 3% 1%Alcohol + Other 5% 0%Alcohol + Operator Inexperience or Error 1% 0%+ Hazardous Water / WeatherAlcohol + Operator Inexperience or Error + Other 1% 2%Alcohol + Hazardous Water / Weather + Other <1% 0%Hazardous Water / Weather + Operator 0% 0%Inexperience or Error + OtherAll Other 13% 10%The total number of fatalities represented in this table: Canoe = 347, Kayak = 136

Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating Accident Report Database (BARD), 1996-2002


other. Table 5 breaks down the causes of canoeand kayak accidents as they are presented inUSCG BARD.

The USCG data report up to three causes foreach reported fatality. Using all three causes andbreaking fatalities down by type of boat, providesevidence of differences in causal factors betweencanoe and kayak deaths (Table 5). Operatorinexperience or inattention and hazardous wateror weather by themselves, or combined with otherfactors, were the major causes of canoe andkayak fatalities. These factors accounted for 76%of all canoeing fatalities, and for 90% of allkayaking fatalities.

Alcohol use was another significant contributingfactor in canoeing fatalities, listed as a causalfactor in 25% of canoeing deaths. Amongkayakers, only 9% of fatalities involved alcoholuse. This difference in proportions is statisticallysignificant. Passenger involvement played a role

in 16% of canoe fatalities but only 3% in kayakfatalities.

For the purposes of this report, any categoryincluding alcohol as a causal factor wascounted as alcohol involvement. If hazardouswater or weather and alcohol were causalfactors, the fatality was tabulated as an alcohol-related fatality. Consequently, proportionspresented for hazardous water or weather andoperator inexperience or inattention includesonly non-alcohol related fatalities.

The cause-related categories used by boatingofficials and reported in BARD are helpful inunderstanding generally what contributes tofatal accidents, they are not specific enough toreveal the details of what actually happened.For these specific details, the most usefulinformation is contained in the accidentnarratives captured in BARD and theinformation presented on PFD use. The ACAhas used all of this information in determining

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Table 6: Canoe and Kayak Fatalities byVessel Type and PFD Use, 1996-2002

Canoe Kayak UnknownPFD Worn 14% 52% 6%PFD Not Worn 85% 48% 94%Unknown 1% — —Total Fatalities 403 155 16


U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002the primary causes and risk factors associatedwith most canoe and kayak fatalities.

Occupant Movement / Weight Shift

The ACA is convinced that occupant movementand weight shift within a canoe plays a majorrole in the majority of all canoeing fatalities. TheBARD data indicate that many of these fatalitiesoccurred in calm water and weather conditions.

Typical behaviors that result in such capsizesinclude: occupants switching positions, anoccupant leaning over the side of the canoe toretrieve something from the water, horseplay,casting a fishing rod, and occupants standingup in the canoe. Here are a few examples of thenarrative accounts of these accidents

Four men were in a canoe. One of the fourwas tipping the boat. The others asked himto stop, and when he shifted his position, hecaused the canoe to capsize. The mantipping the boat went under and drowned.Alcohol was a factor, as the deceased hadreportedly been drinking.

Three adults and two Black Labs were in acanoe on backwater going to a friend’shouse. One of the victims stood up to relievehimself. When he did, the canoe turned over.

Three men were fishing. While passing undera low tree a snake startled the men and theycapsized the boat.

Victim was fishing off dock on the river. Hisfishing line got hung up in the water. He gotin a canoe to get the line out. As he wasattempting to free the line the canoe turnedover. Victim fell in water and drowned.

The vessel capsized when the occupantstood up to land a fish.

A woman and her husband were out in theiraluminum canoe fishing. They had juststarted paddling across the pond when theman dropped something into the water. He

leaned over the edge to retrieve the objectand the canoe capsized.

Capsizes due to occupant movement / weightshift were prevalent both in accidents wherealcohol was involved and in accidents notinvolving alcohol. The narrative accidentdescriptions suggest that these capsizes are

most often associated with inexperiencedoccupants and with the use of a canoe foractivities such as fishing.

Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Use

PFD non-use is the single most prevalent riskfactor among canoe fatalities. While the reasonspaddlecraft occupants end up swimming in thewater are varied – including causes such aswind, wave action, occupant movement, swiftcurrent, and overloading the vessel – the vastmajority of those who do not survive suchmishaps are not wearing a PFD.

In canoeing and kayaking fatalities, threequarters were not wearing a personal flotationdevice (PFD). Among fatalities who had beenpaddling canoes at the time of death, 85% werenot wearing a PFD (Table 6). The odds thatindividuals who were paddling kayaks when theydied were wearing a properly worn PFD was oversix times that of their counterparts in canoes(Odds Ratio=6.3, 95% Confidence Interval=(4.1-9.5). However, nearly half of the fatalitiesamong kayaks were also not wearing PFDs.

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Table 7: Canoe & Kayak Fatalities by PFDUse, 1996-2002

Year No PFD PFD Worn Total Fatalities

1996 74% 26% 431997 77% 23% 831998 83% 17% 861999 72% 28% 822000 68% 32% 1052001 85% 15% 992002 69% 31% 727-year Avg 76% 24% 570



Since non-fatal canoeing and kayakingaccidents rarely meet the reporting criteria, thereis not much information about people’s use ofPFDs among those involved in canoe and kayakaccidents who did not die. Still, a great deal aboutthe role PFD use plays in the survivability ofthese accidents can be derived from thenarrative descriptions of fatal accidents. ACAreviewed available narratives for canoe andkayak accidents where there were multipleoccupants in a canoe or kayak when a capsizeoccurred. Invariably, those who were wearing aPFD survived and those who were not wearinga PFD perished.

The following accident descriptions are typicalof what the ACA found.

On May 23, 1998 four young males were in a canoeon Moore Lake in Minnesota. The canoe capsizedwhile one of the occupants was removing his shirt.

the shore. The man, who was not wearing a PFD,failed to reach the shore and drowned.

One of the few published studies that lookedat PFD use in a general population, Quan etal. (1998) found that in the state of Washingtonin 1995, kayakers had the highest rate of PFDuse (78%) while canoeists averaged 41%. Ifthese rates are representative of PFD use ratesamong paddlers in the entire US, then PFD useamong fatalities reported to the USCG is lowerthan that what would be found among non-fatalities. Over the five-year period from 1996-2000, 28 fatalities occurred in Washingtonwhere Quan et al conducted their study. Amongthese 28 fatalities, PFD use averaged 25%, wellbelow the rate they found among the generalpaddling population in that state. This lendsadditional support to the belief that failure towear a properly fastened PFD contributes tocanoe and kayak fatalities.The tabulations in Table 7 indicate a steadytrend of decreasing PFD use among paddlingfatalities from 1996 to 1998. This trend appearsto reverse after 1998 for two years, and thendeclines in 2001 only to rise again in 2002. Onlyadditional information about PFD use over timewould provide a definitive explanation of theseobserved patterns among fatalities.

Other risk factors for canoe and kayak fatalitiessuch as alcohol impairment, rough or choppywater, strong currents, cold water, andinexperienced paddlers may have a directinfluence on a person’s likelihood of wearing aPFD. For example, individuals who know theywill be paddling rough water may be more likelyto wear a PFD, whereas individuals paddlingcalm water may be less likely to wear a PFD ormore likely to consume alcohol. The followingtables show the distribution of these factorsamong canoe and kayak fatalities over thestudy period.

In order to determine the interplay betweenPFD use and various other risk factors

All occupants except the man who removed his shirtwere wearing a PFD and survived. The man withouta PFD struggled, went under, and drowned.

On July 25, 1998 a family was paddling a canoe on apond near Fairbanks Alaska and the canoe they werein capsized. The man told his wife and 5-year-olddaughter to swim to shore. The wife and daughter,who were both wearing PFDs, successfully reached

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The odds of PFD use among individualspaddling in strong current were two times thatof individuals paddling calm water with no strongcurrent regardless of the other risk factors. Whenthese two characteristics of the water arecontrolled, notice the odds ratio for PFD useamong kayakers falls from six (described in theintroduction without controlling other risk factors)to four (O.R.=4.4, C.I.=(2.6-7.4)). This changein the odds ratio when a new variable iscontrolled suggests among reported fatalities,kayakers were more likely to be paddling roughor choppy water or in strong current. In fact, inthis data set, the odds kayakers were paddlingrough or choppy water at the time of death werenearly five times that of canoeists (O.R.=4.5,95% C.I.=(2.8-7.4)).

As can also be seen in Table 8, alcohol uselowers the odds of PFD use by about 40% evenwhen water conditions and type of vessel arecontrolled (O.R.=0.6, 95% C.I.=(0.3-1.1)). Itshould be noted, however, this effect was notstatistically significant at conventional levels. Wefound some evidence (reported below) alcoholuse is correlated with other factors that can affectfatality risk.

Paddler experience is not included in thisregression due to the large number ofobservations for which this variable is missing.When experience is included in this regression,the results in Table 8 are unchanged except foralcohol involvement where the odds ratio risesto 0.8. Fatalities in the two more experienced

Table 8: Correlates of PFD Use AmongCanoe & Kayak Fatalities, 1996-2002

OddsRatio 95%Confidence IntervalChoppy, 2.2 (1.2-3.8)Rough,or VeryRough WaterStrongCurrent 2.0 (1.2-3.3)Alcohol 0.6 (0.3-1.1)InvolvedKayak 4.4 (2.6-7.4)

Likelihood Ratio ×² (4)=80.0, p_<.001, n=441Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating AccidentReport Database (BARD), 1996-2002.

associated with USCG reported fatalities, weuse a method called logistic regression thatallows us to estimate the strength of theassociation between another risk factor and PFDuse while controlling for other risk factors thatmay have been present. In this way, we hope tobe able to say something about PFD use relativeto other risk factors including how these riskfactors may influence PFD use.

Table 8 provides odds ratios that measure therelative importance of several different riskfactors in determining PFD use. Each odds ratiomeasures the effect of that risk factor on PFDuse while holding all other risk factors constant.For example, individuals who were paddlingchoppy, rough or very rough water at the timeof death had odds of PFD use that were twicethat of individuals paddling calm water at timeof death (O.R.=2.2, 95% C.I.=(1.2-3.8-4.2))regardless of what type of boat they werepaddling, whether or not there was a strongcurrent and whether or not they had consumedalcohol.

Table 9: Paddler Experience and PFD UseAmong Canoe & Kayak Fatalities, 1996-2002

Hours OddsRatio 95%Confidence Interval 10 -100 1.9 (1.0-3.8) >100 4.0 (2.0-7.8)

Likelihood Ratio ×² (2)=17.1, p<.001, N=323Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating Accident ReportDatabase (BARD), 1996-2002.

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U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002categories had much higher odds of PFD usecompared to the least experienced group (1.5and 2.7 respectively).

Among the boating fatalities in this data set,more experienced paddlers were more likely tobe wearing a PFD when they died (Table 9).Individuals who were reported to have less than10 hours of experience were least likely to bewearing a PFD at death. The odds of PFD useamong fatalities with 10-100 hours were twotimes that of the least experienced fatalities. Theodds of PFD use among fatalities with more than100 hours of experience were four times theodds of PFD use among the least experiencedfatalities. Of course, these results should beviewed as somewhat tenuous, since“experience” was reported for only 56% of allknown canoe or kayak fatalities.

There is some evidence in the US Coast Guarddata that with the exception of alcohol use, PFDuse increases with risk factors commonlythought to be associated with a higher probabilityof capsize, such as rough or choppy water. Thissuggests that among paddlers who died, PFDuse may have been influenced to some extentby perceived risk of misadventure while on thewater. Fatalities paddling relatively calm watertended not to be wearing a PFD when they died.Unfortunately, it appears that calm water mayfoster other high-risk behaviors as well. Alcohol

appeared to be a factor in proportionately moredeaths on calm water than on choppy, roughor very rough water.

Only research that collects data on bothnonfatal and fatal boating can ever answer thePFD question with certainty. However, basedon the USCG data, it appears that individualswho died boating and who were wearing PFDstended to be more experienced, were morelikely to be paddling on rougher water and weremore likely paddling a kayak. Those who werenot wearing PFDs at time of death appear tohave been less experienced, were more likelyto have consumed alcohol, and were more likelyto have been paddling a canoe.

Water and Weather Conditions

Water and weather conditions are a significantfactor in many canoe and kayak fatalities. While

Table 10: Canoe and Kayak Fatalities byWater Condition 1996-2002

Water PercentCalm Water 49%

Choppy,Rough, very Rough Water 51%

Total Observations: 459


Table 11: Canoe and Kayak Fatalities byStrong Current 1996-2002

PercentCurrent Not Strong 62%Strong Current 38%Total Observations: 459


canoes and kayaks are very capable of handlingrough water conditions, much of this capabilitydepends on the skill of the operator. Experiencedpaddlers regularly navigate roughwater successfully, but when an inexperiencedpaddler encounters waves or strong currentthere is a much higher risk of capsizing.

From the figures in Table 10, it appears thatfatalities were evenly divided between calmwater and water classified as choppy, rough orvery rough by the USCG. It is likely that themajority of people in the U.S. who go canoeingor kayaking prefer to paddle on relatively calmwaters, such as small lakes, ponds, and quiet

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U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002(62%). Again, risk preferring whitewater boaterfatalities would be expected to fall into the “strongcurrent” category.

Hypothermia due to cold-water exposure is alsoa paddler risk factor for death. In the USCG data,just under three-quarters of all fatalities wherewater temperature was known occurred in waterbelow 65 degrees Fahrenheit (Table 12).

Operator Experience

Another risk factor for mishap and injury amongpaddlers is inexperience. Information onexperience is only available for 323 of the 574known canoe and kayak fatalities in the USCGdatabase. The majority of these fatalities hadmore than 10 hours of experience (71%) withjust less than a third reporting more than 100hours of experience (Table 13).

Alcohol Use

The odds of alcohol use were almost twice asgreat among fatalities occurring on calm water(O.R.=1.6, 95% C.I. = 1.0-2.4) (Table 14). Also,the odds alcohol was involved in the fatalitynearly doubled if a canoe was paddled ratherthan a kayak (O.R. 1.8, 95% C.I.=1.0-3.3).

Man-made Hazards

Dams and weirs and other man-made hazardscontribute to numerous canoe and kayak deathseach year. Dams often present a greater hazardto paddlers than natural river features. Becauseof their uniform shape, dams typically createpowerful hydraulics that will hold and recirculateanything near the face. As noted in the UniqueHazards section earlier, low-head dams areparticularly problematic. These dams are oftenonly a few feet high and appear benign to peoplewho are unaware of the hydrology associatedwith them.

Table 12: Canoe and Kayak Fatalities byWater Temperature 1996-2002

Water Temperature (F°) Percent <50º F 33% 51º-65º 38% > 65º 28%Total Observations: 394Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating AccidentReport Database (BARD), 1996-2002

Table 13: Canoe and Kayak Fatalities byOperator Experience 1996-2002

Hours Percent<10 hours 29%10-100 hours 39%Over 100 hours 31%Total Observations: 323Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating AccidentReport Database (BARD), 1996-2002

rivers. A smaller proportion of boaters, usuallykayakers, prefer the greater challenge ofwhitewater boating and an even smallerproportion enjoy the risks of ocean kayaking. Theroughly equal proportions in Table 10 are difficultto interpret since we don’t know what the relativerates of exposure are to the two types of waterconditions. Some of those in the rough watercategory are probably risk-preferring whitewaterboaters and sea kayakers, while some arecanoeists and kayakers who were caught instorms on open water.

Table11 indicates that the majority of canoe andkayak fatalities do not occur in strong current

Table 14: Correlates Alcohol Use AmongCanoe & Kayak Fatalities, 1996 - 2002

Odds Ratio 95% Confidence IntervalCanoe 1.8 (1.0-3.3)Calm Water 1.6 (1.0-2.4)Likelihood Ratio × ²(2)=11.4, p<.001, N=441

Source: US Coast Guard Recreational Boating Accident ReportDatabase (BARD), 1996-2002

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The circumstances surrounding dam-relateddeaths vary, but some scenarios are morecommon than others. Often paddlers areinvoluntarily swept over a dam by current.Typically the paddler either underestimated theforce of the current upstream of the dam, orunderestimated the force of the water below thedam. Large flood control and hydroelectric damscan pose an unseen risk to paddlersdownstream by releasing large volumes of waterthat can quickly and dramatically change thecharacter of a river.

In addition to dams and weirs, other commonman-made hazards for paddlers include fencesplaced across streams, bridge piers(abutments), low-water bridges, culverts, andlarge trash (such as old cars and washingmachines) discarded in rivers. These man-madehazards are most problematic in swift movingwater, where they pose pinning or entrapmenthazards.

Other Vessels

The extent to which other vessels contribute tocanoe and kayak fatalities is harder to determine.In its review of narrative accident data, the ACAfound only a few fatal accidents positivelyidentified as involving another vessel. There are,however, a significant number of fatal capsizesun-witnessed and where the cause of capsizeis unknown. Many paddlers have reportedaccidents and near accidents resulting from theoperation of motorized craft.

The narrative descriptions of fatal accidentsinvolving canoes or kayaks and other vessels,while few in number, do point out the risk topaddlers that other vessels can present.

The operator was towing a person on a kneeboard.There was an observer present, but the operatorturned around to look at the kneeboarder and whendoing so, failed to see an anchored canoe not farfrom shore and ran over it. The accident killed a

passenger in the canoe and severely injured itsoperator.

A 30-year-old man lost his life when the 14-footcanoe from which he was fishing capsized. Thecanoe was in an area where several powerboatswere operating and was apparently struck by awake.

A canoe was operating on the Buffalo River withthree passengers and no personal flotation devices.Vessel B passed closely at a high rate of speedand its wake caused the canoe to swamp and sink.The victim was not able to stay above water.

Some boaters and boating officials have raisedquestions about the low profile of touringkayaks and whether they are visible enough toother vessels, however, nothing in the BARDaccident data or in the accident descriptionsreviewed by ACA indicate that the low profileof a kayak has played a role in boatingaccidents or fatalities. Many other objects inthe water, such as marine mammals, debris,and certain types buoys have a similarly lowprofile. This potential risk is greatly reducedby boaters maintaining proper lookout.

Accident Victims

Key to the ability of ACA and others to reducethe number of canoeing and kayaking fatalitiesis an understanding of the identity of thevictims. All of the data analyzed in this reportreveal information about accident victims. Forexample, the report shows that most victimswere paddling canoes and not wearing a PFD.Beyond that, ACA cross-referenced informationfrom the general accident report, vesselinformation in the BARD, and narrativedescriptions of the fatal accidents. Through thatresearch ACA also concludes that the followinginformation.

• Approximately 90 % of canoeing andkayaking fatalities are male.

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U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002• Approximately 50 % of victims

categorized as canoeing and kayakingfatalities were fishing when theaccident occurred.

• Approximately 40% of canoeingfatalities for which information isavailable were in aluminum canoes atthe time of the accident.

• Victims of fatal canoeing accidentsmost commonly were operatinginexpensive canoe brands at the timeof the accident.

• At least 25% of victims in canoeingrelated fatalities are believed to haveconsumed alcohol immediately prior tothe accident.

While ACA research was able to derive somevaluable victim information from the USCG,there are many gaps and inaccuracies in thereporting of canoe and kayak fatalities. Basicinformation such as the type of canoe orkayak, vessel hull material and manufacturer,and gender of the victim were either absentor incorrect for many accident reports. Thisinformation needs to be as complete andaccurate as possible in order for ACA andothers involved in boating safety to effectivelytarget and impact the individuals at highestrisk of having a fatal accident

Human Error And Canoe Accidents

It is important to look at results of otherresearch efforts to verify ACA observations.The following analysis is supplied by Dr.James McKnight of the Marine SafetyFoundation. This Foundation recentlycompleted an analysis of human errorinvolved in over 3000 fatal and non-fatalboating accidents reported to the US CoastGuard. The sample included 220 canoe orkayak accidents.

Based on these findings, the leading contributorto fatal accidents was the failure to wear a PFDunder conditions creating a significant chanceof ending up in the water. The proportion ofcanoes accidents resulting from this causeexceeded that for any other type of boat.Conditions leading to sudden immersionincluded strong current (e.g. rapids), roughweather and the poor navigability of thewaterway because of rocks, tree limbs and otherimpediments. Many drownings resulted fromfailure to stay with the canoe and make use ofits flotation, being second only to rowboats inthis problem. Failure to have PFDs available tobegin with was also second highest to rowboataccidents.

Accidents resulting from lack of sufficient skill inhandling canoes involved primarily the samethreatening conditions that warranted PFDs,(current, weather, impediments to navigation).Those that could have been avoided hadcanoeists considered these conditions relativeto their own skill in deciding whether to operateat all added up to almost a fifth of all canoeaccidents. Inability to handle rough weather orto seek shelter from it when encountered was afactor in about half of these accidents. Much ofcanoeing takes place along waterwayscharacterized by waterfalls or dams andaccidents resulting from failure to check routesin advance for these obstacles were largelyconfined to canoes. Not looking along the pathahead was less of a problem than for fastermoving boats, but many accidents resulted infailure to see other vessels, as well as markers,logs, and trees, among other objects.

Considering the relative instability of canoes, itis not surprising that failure to remain seatedled to a large proportion of capsize accidents(exceeded only by rowboats). Specific causesincluded attempts to change position, movegear, relieve oneself, or horseplay. Paddling tooclose to other, boats, particularly larger boats,resulted in damage, a problem that was more

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U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002severe when strong wind or current made controlmore difficult. Several accidents resulted fromactions by inexperienced crew, such as playinggames, jumping in the water and having the canoeblow away, becoming confused in an emergency,and capsizing the boat while trying to recovergear.

Underlying many of the canoe accidents was theuse of alcohol. Along with open motor boats,canoes had the largest number of instances inwhich alcohol impairment clearly led to accidents,particularly those involving capsizing andswamping. The magnitude of alcohol’s role incanoeing mishaps cannot be accurately judgedfrom the information available to accidentsinvestigators. However, measures of bloodalcohol in recreational boating fatalities showabout a third having levels indicative ofintoxication (four to five drinks in the system).

Errors differ greatly by boat type.The followinglists present human errors resulting in reportedaccidents for each boat type in the order offrequency from highest to lowest.

CanoesPFD WEAR – not used when wind, waves,temperature warrantALCOHOL – impairment causing capsize, collisionsCURRENT - handling strong currentCAPSIZE – standing, moving, horseplay; swimmingfor shorePFD # – lack required number (or any at all)WEATHER – not stopping, seeking shelter whenneededROUTE – not checking ahead for rapids, strongcurrentSKILL/KNOWLEDGE – loss of control, confusion,unsafe actsPFD COLD – not wearing when cold water causeshypothermiaPFD NON-SWIMMER – not wearing when unable toswim

KayaksCONDITIONS – venturing out in conditions toosevereCLOTHING – inappropriate for cold weather, nohelmetROUTE – not checking for rapids, waterfalls,obstructionsSKILL – insufficient for conditions and attemptedactivityWATER – not considering navigability, obstructions(rocks)WEATHER – not ceasing operation, seeking shelterSELECTION – wrong type of kayak for route andconditions

Knowing the frequency of errors allowspreventive efforts to be directed where mostneeded and to be targeted to individual groupsof paddlers. The ongoing research of theMarine Safety Foundation will no doubt assistACA and the greater paddlesport communityin targeting messages and course contentspecifically to paddling groups.

Conclusions

If one factor is correlated with another, thensimple one-way comparisons may producemisleading results. For example, if most kayakdeaths occur among more experienced boaterspaddling more difficult, i.e., higher risk, waterwho always wear PFDs, while canoe deathsoccur among less experienced paddlerspaddling calm water and not wearing PFDs,then increased PFD use should reducefatalities among canoeists, but might not havemuch effect among more experiencedkayakers.

There are several problems associated with theUSCG data that may compromise the validityof our analyses. The first is “missing data.” Thisproblem takes several forms. The first is thatthe USCG database contains only fatalities thatare reported to the USCG. If local officials failto file a report, then the fatality will not be in thedatabase. Moreover, if the fatality occurred on26

U.S. Canoe and Kayak Fatality Analysis 1996-2002a private lake or pond, officials are not requiredto file a report with the USCG. Such fatalitiesmay represent a significant portion of totalcanoe and kayak fatalities (Smith, 2001).

Missing data will not be a problem as long asfailure to report is not systematically related torisk factors that were present for the fatality.For example, if individuals are less likely to wearPFDs when boating on private lakes and ponds,then PFD use among fatalities reported to theUSCG may actually be higher than in thegeneral population of paddlers. Although thisis theoretically possible, there is no reason tobelieve that PFD use varies significantly or thatthere are systematic differences in reportingboating accidents that occur on publicwaterways.

However, it is important to keep this possiblesource of bias in mind when evaluating theresults of this analysis. The more troublesomemissing data problem with this data set are allthe observations for which vessel type or PFDuse or water conditions, etc, are unknown.Operator experience, an important risk factor,was missing for half of all kayak and canoefatalities. There is also some evidence that theUSCG data tends to under-report alcohol-involvement (Smith, 2001). If these data arenot missing at random, then again, the resultsof our analyses will be misleading.

Another missing data problem of the USCGdata set is the lack of information aboutcharacteristics of the person who died. Thereis some evidence that teenage boys are athighest risk of drowning from all causes(Newman et al, 1998) and that males in generalare at higher risk of injury and injury-relateddeaths (Smith and Howland, 1999). Quan et al(1998) found that females are more likely towear a PFD and that PFD use was highestamong children under the age of 5 years. Manystates currently require children under the ageof 13 to be wearing a PFD while in a boat that

is underway, but this was not the case during theentire 1995-2002 study period.

Because we have no information on individualswho were boating during the 1996-2002 periodand who were not fatally injured in a canoe orkayak accident, we have no meaningfulcomparison from which to calculate a relative riskof mortality based on the risk factors described inthis report. Use of propensity scores (Rosenbaum& Rubin, 1983, 1984) with quasi-experimentaldata and comprehensive data on individual riskfactors, including education, experience, PFDuse, training, number of hours spent paddling,etc, should yield reliable estimates of reductionsin relative risk due to PFD use if such data couldbe obtained.

A Note About Risk

The average human, if she knew with certaintythat she would capsize and drown without a PFD,would readily purchase and properly wear a PFDto avoid that fate. The problem in the generalcanoeing and kayaking public is that theprobability of capsizing and drowning appears tobe quite small. If we assume that on any givenweekend day, there are 10,000 canoes andkayaks paddling America’s waterways, then thereare 10,000*104=1,040,000 paddler days eachyear when people are at risk. In the last two yearsfor which data are available, the average numberof deaths per year was 87. The unadjusted riskper paddler day is .00008 or 8 fatalities per100,000 user days.1 It should be noted that it islikely that this conservative calculation actuallyoverstates the risk since the NSRE’s figuresindicate that over 30 million people paddledcanoes or kayaks in 2003.

Adding in every lake, pond, bay, and all otherrivers in the U.S. as well as canoe liveries andpark concessions, it’s likely that there are morethan 10,000 canoes and kayaks underway on anygiven weekend day. Moreover, paddling is notrestricted to weekends.

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ACA Strategy to Reduce Canoe and Kayak Fatalities

Given the relatively low probability of this highlynegative event, it is easy to see why manypeople are willing to assume this risk and donot properly wear their PFD. Moreover, if theirjudgment is impaired by alcohol, then the risk ofa capsize increases, but the likelihood that theyare properly wearing a PFD declines. There issome evidence in these data that some of thepaddlers who died and who were wearing PFDsmay have been doing so in response to waterconditions. This provides some evidence thatpaddlers do alter behaviors in response toperceived risk. However, until people fullyunderstand the severity of the consequences ofthis low probability event, PFD use is likely toremain low, especially among casual andinexperienced paddlers or those using alcohol.

1 This rate is not adjusted for paddler age, experience, or anyof the other many risk factors that should be taken into account.It is a crude estimate based on a questionable and probablyunderestimated denominator. As such, it most likely representsan upper bound on canoe and kayak fatalities, but serves todemonstrate that these are relatively low probability events, atleast as viewed by the average paddler setting out on a sunnysummer day on a calm lake.

ACA Strategy to Reduce Canoeand Kayak Fatalities

While paddlesport participation is increasing atan explosive rate, the educational opportunitiesavailable to paddlers have declined. TheAmerican Red Cross (ARC) discontinued itsnational programs in 1996 and many localchapters subsequently followed suit. Currentlyonly a few ARC Chapters continue to offercertification as an Instructor in paddlesports.ACA, recognizing the gap left by ARC, hasaltered several of its educational programs butneeds additional distribution to meet the nationalneed. Furthermore, there are populations ofinfrequent or casual paddlers that have neverbeen reached with any paddling related safetyinformation.

This report, Critical Judgment II, Understandingand Preventing Canoe and Kayak Fatalities,comes at a most important time in the historyof paddlesports and presents much-neededinformation on paddling-related fatalities.Based on the information in this report, ACAhas developed a strategy for reducing canoeand kayak fatalities. Successfully implementingthis strategy will require a significantcommitment of effort and resources by ACA,other boating safety organizations, stateboating agencies and USCG.

ACA, working within the greater boating safetycommunity, has completed initial researchtoward developing a Paddlesports Educationand Safety Awareness National Plan of Action.The focus of this plan will be to identify gaps inthe current system of paddlesport education,instruction and information and identifymethods to close those gaps.

Reaching Accident Prone Populations

Canoeing and kayaking related fatalities occurin virtually all aspects of these activities.Because of this diversity, and the diversebackground of victims, no single approach ormessage can reach all of those who need tobe reached. Using the information presentedin this report on vessel manufacturer and hullmaterials, victim age and gender, the activitybeing pursued and the mistakes made, ACAwill develop programs, products andpartnerships that can effectively target thosepeople at greatest risk.

There is a particular need to reach thepopulations of infrequent or casual paddlersthat are most involved in capsizes on calmwater, and who are not likely to be wearing aPFD. A significant number of these victims wereusing a canoe for fishing when the accidentoccurred. This indicates that more effort shouldbe focused on venues and resources that arepopular with casual anglers.

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ACA uses the information contained in thisreport to target its safety education efforts. Toensure success, new approaches will oftenneed to be tested on a small scale andevaluated for effectiveness. Once deemedeffective, these new approaches can be rolledout on a larger scale with confidence of havingthe desired impact.

Crafting Effective Messages

The same diversity that drives targeting ofspecific high-risk populations also drives thecontent of effective safety messages. Just asunderstanding the diversity of paddlers allowsus to target specific high-risk populations, thissame understanding helps ACA develop safetymessages. The knowledge presented in thisreport about who the victims are and whatmistakes they typically make is the key tocrafting effective messages.

For example, a large portion of fatal capsizesresult from standing or moving about in a canoe.As a result of this tragic fact, ACA and otherboating safety groups need to create anddisseminate information about the hazards ofpassenger movement and other ways tominimize capsize. The information that needsto be effectively conveyed includes:

• Standing up or moving about in a canoegreatly increases the chance of capsize.

• Maintain three points of contact while movingaround. If you move a foot to step forward, youshould be holding onto the boat with BOTHhands.

• Load the boat properly. Stay within the limitsof the boat’s capacity rating listed on thecapacity plate (if one is present.) Keep weightcentered both from side to side and bow tostern. The lower and closer the boat’s load isto the centerline, generally the more stable the

boat will be assuming adequate freeboardexists.

• Keep your shoulders inside the gunwales ofthe boat. When retrieving something from thewater, reach with your paddle or guide the boatcloser to the object so you can grab the itemfrom the water without leaning your shouldersover the gunwale.

• Take hands-on training. Paddling instructionwill teach you balance, use of stabilizing strokes,and safe exit and entry on the water.

Creating effective messages involves more thanknowing what information to convey. Thosecreating the message must understand whattone will resonate with a specific audience. Forexample, if one is trying to reach a young,image-conscious audience with a messageencouraging PFD use, conveying the risk ofdrowning may not be as effective as conveyingthat people on the water without a PFD looksilly, ignorant, or “uncool”.

Just as a message with a well-crafted tone caneffectively reach certain populations, carefullyplaced information can reach paddlecraft userswhose perceived primary activity is not paddling.For instance, since anglers have been shownto be particularly at risk, and since “Big Box”discount stores sell the majority of fishing tacklein the US, safety education outreach programsshould target this important venue. Since familyand friends introduce many paddlers to thesport, messages that reach out to these groupsshould be developed.

Information from the National Survey onRecreation and the Environment (2003)provides specific information on individuals whocanoe and kayak.

Canoeists43% female, 57% male

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87% non-Hispanic white33% under 25, 77% under 45Incomes $25K to $75KUnder 80% urbanFavored by Northeasterners andMidwesterners

Kayakers44% female, 56% male85% non-Hispanic white60% under 35, 40% under 25

state, and local boating safety programs includestrong partnerships with the paddlesportcommunity at multiple levels. All surveyindicators point to a rise of outdoor recreationand more demands on water resources.

It is also important to provide in-depth and up-to-date paddlesport information and training(hands-on and classroom) created specifically

Average Participation by days vary greatly:

Activity Average Days 1-2 days 3-10 Days 11-25 Days 25-50 Days 51+DaysKayaking 7.7 50% 36% 8% 4% 2%Canoeing 7.7 46% 42% 8% 3% 1%

*National Survey on Recreation and the Environment 2003 – Presentation to National Association ofState Boating Law Administrators 10/03 by Dr. Gary Green

Income – 1/3 earn less than $25K85% urbanHeavier participation in New England andPacific Coast States

There is growth in risk activities and risk seekers:

• Of the 9.6 million participants of kayaking,31% paddle freshwater with 20% of participationon whitewater, 31% paddle exclusively in coastalsettings while 12 % paddle both fresh andcoastal.• Of the 19.6 million canoeists, 88% paddlefreshwater with 15% of participation onwhitewater, 6% paddle in coastal areas and 5%paddle both fresh and coastal.• Of the 22.6 million rafters, 26% ofparticipation is on whitewater.

Expanded Delivery of Instruction

ACA wants to ensure the widest distribution ofpaddlesport safety information by partnering withfederal, state, and local agencies to use publicresources. An initial method of producing this“multiplier effect” is to actively partner withoutdoor recreation and boating safetyorganizations. It is imperative that the national,

for boating safety professionals to deliver to ageneral land-based audience. The boatingsafety community of instructors should bearmed with the information needed to providebasic paddlesport safety information. To thisend the ACA has developed “Smart Start forPaddlers” under a Wallop-Beaux grant from theUS Coast Guard. This basic safety educationprogram is designed for use by the USCGAuxiliary, the US Power Squadrons, and statesand education systems to reach entry-level aswell as the broader boating public. Expandeddistribution and outreach is needed for thisprogram.

Public Policy Recommendations

The knowledge presented in this reportcontinues to point to a number of key publicpolicy needs, ranging from increased fundingfor boating safety to more complete andcomprehensive accident reporting. ACAproposes a comprehensive package of policyrecommendations that it believes willsignificantly reduce the number of canoeingand kayaking related fatalities.

Accident Reporting

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In reviewing and analyzing accident data forthis report, ACA discovered a variety ofproblems that hindered its ability to discernimportant factual information about theaccidents, the vessels involved and the victims.These problems included missing or inaccuratedata, difficulty accessing data and a failure tocapture needed information. To correct theseproblems the ACA recommends

1. Increased training for state and federalmarine patrol officers in paddlesport accidentinvestigation is needed to improve the accuracy,detail, and completeness of paddlesportaccident reports. Accident investigators needto be more familiar with canoeing and kayakingand the equipment used in these activities (bothrequired and optional).

2. Continued revision and refinement ofaccident report forms to enable the capture ofadditional information critical to craftingeffective safety messages for those at highestrisk of being involved in a fatal canoe or kayakaccident. These revisions should include:

A. Canoes and kayaks should bedocumented as unique and separate types ofboats. For accidents involving kayaks, thespecific type of kayak involved should beidentified in the accident report. Examplesinclude: Whitewater, Touring, and Recreational.

B. For the purpose of gathering andpresenting accident information, canoespowered by outboard motors should beclassified as open motorboats.

C. A description of the safety and rescueequipment present at the time of the accidentshould be included in all accident reports.

D. Those reporting an accident shouldinclude a description of any relevantsupplemental flotation or watertightcompartments on the craft involved.

E. Information such as water conditions,weather conditions, and other environmentalaspects bearing on the accident should also bereported in clear detail.

Funding

State and federal boating safety programs needto be adequately funded. Key to all efforts toreduce boating fatalities is the securing of agreater portion of Wallop-Breaux dollars forboating safety. ACA recommends several specificprojects that should be funding priorities.

1. Funding is needed to improve the level ofpaddlesports knowledge among state boatingofficials, accident investigators and boating safetyeducators. To this end, funding priorities shouldinclude paddlesport-specific education effortsaimed at boating safety professionals andvolunteers. Such efforts include targetedmessages as well as specific safety awarenesstraining for key leaders in key programs, deliveryof classroom and on-water courses for boatingsafety professionals and volunteers, andpartnership funding to increase paddlesportsrepresentation at boating safety meetings,conferences and educational venues.

2. A funding priority must be the development,testing and delivery of new safety messagesaimed at fulfilling the safety education deficienciesidentified in this report. This includes messagesdesigned to inform all boaters of how to avoidcapsize, and the need to wear a PFD in smallcraft. The funding should anticipate the possibleneed to use mass media vehicles such asbillboards, TV, radio, and theater advertising. Italso includes messages specifically targeted atpeople who occasionally use a canoe or kayakand lack basic knowledge about safely operatingsuch craft.

3. Increased funding should be allocated for signsand other educational efforts designed to informthe public of hazards such as low-head dams and

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high water levels. Emphasis should be placedon the development of standard symbols forsigns and marking of hazards.

4. States should increase funding for waterwaylaw enforcement. Since law enforcementbenefits the public as a whole, such fundingshould be allocated from general funds derivedfrom tax revenue.

5. Federal, state, and local funding to maintainand improve the nation’s stream gauge networkshould be increased. This is an important toolfor paddlers to use to determine the risks of agiven waterway on a given day.

Safety Education

The findings contained in Critical Judgment IIpoint to a number of public educationdeficiencies that increase the likelihood ofpeople being involved in fatal canoe and kayakaccidents. The follow recommendations aredesigned to eliminate those deficiencies andeffectively reach the people at the greatest riskof being involved in a fatal canoe or kayakaccident.

1. State and federal agencies, as well as boatingsafety organizations, need to expand efforts toincrease PFD wearage across all segments ofthe boating community. The effectiveness of themethods, messages, and targeting involved inthese efforts needs to be evaluated usingmeasurable benchmarks. Such efforts shoulddraw on the methods successfully used by anti-smoking and seat belt campaigns.

2. Efforts are needed to better inform all boatersof the unique stability characteristics of smallboats, including proper load and trim and howto avoid capsize. This study reveals that anglersin particular are in great need of this information.The development and delivery of informationspecific to small boats should use the expertiseof ACA.

ACA proposes continuation of the NationalPaddlesport Education Leadership Forum. Thecollective goal of the Paddlesport EducationLeadership Forum is to minimize the loss oflife and personal injury of paddlesportparticipants through preventive means and tomaximize safe use and enjoyment of the USwaterways by the paddling public.

ACA proposes enhanced efforts targeted at theentry-level or casual paddler, including but notlimited to

• Increased training and educationmaterials for paddlesport rental andlivery operations.

o Commercial operators tend to behighly professional and take riskmanagement very seriously.When a commercial operator isprovided with effective materialsto manage risk, the materials aregenerally used to great effect.

o Rental customers are frequentlypart of large groups providing anexcellent opportunity to providecontrolled “peer pressure” onparticipants.

• Increased training and educationmaterials for school systems andrecreation programs.

o Programs packaged for familyand group participation should bedeveloped and introduced.

ACA proposes a research project to evaluatethe effectiveness of information presented topaddlesport participants in a camp, rental orinstructional program. This survey could beused to determine Paddlesport Safety BestPractices for program providers.

On a final note, the ACA will continue to monitorand report on fatal accidents involvingpaddlesports and will work to remain proactivein matters of safety education and public policy.A central theme of the American CanoeAssociation is “making the world a better place

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ReferencesNational Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) 2000-2003. The Interagency National SurveyConsortium, Coordinated by the USDA Forest Service, Recreation, Wilderness, and Demographics TrendsResearch Group, Athens GA and the Human Dimensions Research Laboratory, University of Tennessee,Knoxville, TN.

United States Coast Guard (USCG), Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) 1996-2002.

Newman, L.M. Dickema, D.S. Shubkin, C.D. Klein, E.J., Quan, L. (1998) PediatricWilderness Recreation Deaths in Western Washington. Annals of Emergency Medicine.32(6):687-92.

Quan, L, Bennett, E, Cummings, P, Trusty, M.N., and Treser, C.D. (1998) Are life vestsworn? A multiregional observational study of personal flotation devices use in small boats.Injury Prevention. 4(3):203-5.

Rosenbaum, P.R. & Rubin, D. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score inobservational studies for causal effects. Biometrika, 70(1): 41-55.

Rosenbaum, P. R. & Rubin, D. B. (1984). Reducing bias in observational studies usingsubclassification on the propensity score. Journal of the American Statistical Association,79(387), 516-24.

Smith, G.S. and Howland, J. (1999) Declines in Drowning: Exploring the Epidemiologyof Favorable Trends. Journal of the American Medical Association. 281(23): 2245-6.Smith, G.S. (2001) Private Communication

Wittman, L. (2000) Kayaking is safer than you might think (really!). AmericanWhitewater, September/October, 100-1.

Dr. James McKnight, Marine Safety Foundation, Human Errors in Boating Safety email

ACA Programs and ResourcesThe American Canoe Association nationalInstruction program has been a driving force inpaddlesport education for more than 30 years. In1929 prior to the establishment of its owninstructor certification program, the ACA wasinstrumental with the development of astandardized paddlesport nomenclature inconjunction with the American Red Cross, BoyScouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA.

Today, the ACA has a host of available coursescovering many different craft and environments.ACA courses range from basic skills workshops toInstructor Certification courses. “Quickstart”orientation courses may be as short as 3 hourswhile more advanced Instructor workshops mayrun to 60 contact hours of instruction.

Courses are available within:

• • • • • Touring Canoe – designed for flatwaterenvironments such as ponds and lakes

• • • • • River Canoe-designed for moving watersand whitewater to Class III-IV

• • • • • River Kayak-designed for moving watersand whitewater to Class III-IV

• • • • • Coastal Kayak-designed for tidal marshareas and coastal areas with surf up to 1mile from shore in specific wind conditions.This would appear to be the most populararea of programming for 2002 and 2003.

• • • • • Swiftwater Rescue-designed for thewhitewater paddler and/or rescuepersonnel who may be called to assist inan entrapment or rescue situation.

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• • • • • Surf Kayak- a specialize type of paddlingwhich occurs in the coastal surf zone usingwhitewater type craft

• • • • • Rafting-ACA’s rafting program is centeredon the personal or family raft

• • • • • Adaptive Paddling courses are availableacross most craft in order to facilitateInstructor’s ability to modify programs forthose requiring adaptations due to injury ordisability.

• • • • • Operation Paddle Safe- designed forindividuals who need documentation ofexposure to safe paddling practices but notinstructor certification.

• • • • • SmartStart for Paddlers- a 20 minute safetyorientation targeting newcomers topaddlesport.

ACA has produced a series of safety materialincluding:

SmartStart for Paddlers is a 20 minuteorientation for the newcomer to paddlesport. It isavailable through local boating programs from theUS Power Squadrons, US Coast Guard Auxiliaryand ACA.

National Livery Safety System is a series ofcanoeing 3 tapes (2 general public, 1 stafftraining), a risk management manual and liveryposters designed to be used in commercial livery/rental facilities to expose staff and the paddlingpublic to safe paddling practices.

National Paddlesport Safety System is a seriesof three tapes including Whitewater Rafting,Whitewater Kayaking and the award winningCoastal Kayaking. These tapes, also designed foruse in livery/rental facilities increase the breath ofsafety materials available to the rental customer.

Quickstart Your Canoe/Quickstart Your KayakVideos are produced to offer safety education tothe new paddler. This is our latest video seriesand has been widely distributed since its releasein 2003.

Know Your Limits- an 8 page glossy pamphletdesigned to convey very elementary concepts inpaddlesport safety across the widest possibleaudience.

ACA Website: See additional information on-lineat www.acanet.org

The International Scale of River RatingDifficulty is a guide for assessing the difficulty ofa stretch of water. Some rivers will not clearly fallinto a neat system. Temperatures below 50 °Fshould change a rating to be one class moredifficult than normal.

Class I Moving water with few riffles and smallwaves. Few or no obstructions.

Class II Easy rapids with waves up to three feetand wide clear channels that are obvious.

Class III Rapids with high, irregular waves oftencapable of swamping an open canoe. Narrowpassages that often require complexmaneuvering. May require some scouting fromshore.

Class IV Long, difficult rapids and constrictedpassages that often require precise maneuveringin very turbulent waters. Scout from shore oftennecessary and conditions make rescue difficult.Canoeists and kayakers should have the abilityto roll.

Class V Extremely difficult. Long very violentrapids with highly congested routes that nearlyalways must be scouted. Rescue conditions aredifficult and there is a significant hazard to life inthe event of a mishap. Ability to execute a roll isessential for all boaters in kayaks and closedcanoes.

Class VI Difficulties in Class V carried to theextreme of navigability. Nearly impossible andvery dangerous. for experts only.Source: American Whitewater

ACA PROGRAMS & RESOURCES

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GLOSSARY

Blade: The broad part at the ends of the paddle.

Bow: The forward end of the boat.

Bracing: A paddle placement resisting capsize.

Cockpit: The enclosed central compartment on akayak, in which the paddler sits.

Deck: The top part of a kayak that keeps the hullfrom filling with water.

Difficulty Rating: The rating of a river section’snavigability.

Drop: A steep sudden slope in a river. Oftencalled a rapid.

Eddy: The area behind an obstruction in currentwith still water or upstream current.

Eddy Line: the line which separates the eddyfrom the main current.

Falls: Drops where water falls free.

Ferry: Maneuver in which a paddler uses theforce of the water to move the kayak sidewaysacross the current.

Flatwater: Lake or river water without rapids.

Flotation: Waterproof compartments, foamblocks, or inflatable airbags. This flotation willhelp a swamped boat stay on the surface,making rescue easier.

Gunwales, also “gunnels”: The rails along the topedge of a canoe’s hull.

Hull: The structural body of the boat, the shapeof which determines how the boat will perform invarious conditions.

Hydraulic: Turbulence caused by water flowingover an obstacle.

Hypothermia: Physical condition that occurswhen the body loses heat faster than it canproduce it.

Keeper: A hydraulic that holds objects inrecirculating water.

Rapids: River section with steep fast flow aroundobstructions.

Rocker: The amount of curvature of a line downthe middle of a kayaks hull, from bow to stern.More rocker (more curvature) usually makes aboat more maneuverable. Less rocker tends tohelp the boat track in a straight line.

Roll: The technique of righting a capsizedpaddlecraft with the paddler remaining in thepaddling position.

Sit-on-top: kayaks without a cockpit, sit-on-topsare usually self-bailing with various seat and footbrace configurations. Many are for recreationaluse, but some are designed for touring or racing.

Slack Water: Water flowing without riffles orrapids.

Spray Skirt (Spray Deck): A neoprene or nylonskirt worn by as kayaker that attaches to the rim(coaming) of the cockpit. It keeps water out ofthe kayak.

Stern: the rear end of the boat.

Strainer: An obstruction in moving water, whichallows water to pass through but stops and holdobjects such as boats and people. Fallen treesoften form strainers in current.

Throw bag: A nylon bag filled with rope (whichfloats) that is thrown to rescue or assistswimmers.

Undercut Rocks: “undercuts” are rocks withwater flowing under them, forming a trappinghazard.

Wet exit: Coming out of a capsized kayak orcanoe.

Whitewater: Aerated rapids.

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This project made possible through support provided by the National Safe Boating Council.NSBC Mission: To enhance the safety of the recreational boating experiecne though educationand outreach.

For additional information on boating safety visitwww.acanet.org

www.safeboatingcouncil.org

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