Alcohol consumption among recreational boaters: factors for intervention

Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature

ISSUES

The surrounding social and commercial context, including alcohol advertising, heavily influences alcohol consumption. Alcohol use is a major risk factor for both fatal and non-fatal drowning, particularly for young people.

APPROACH

We conducted a scoping review to explore the peer-reviewed literature on the use of alcohol by young people (aged 15-34 years) in the context of aquatic environments. Five electronic academic databases were searched for English-language studies conducted in high-income countries and published in the last 15 years (since 2008). The MetaQAT framework was used to assess methodological quality of included studies.

KEY FINDINGS

The review included a total of 24 studies, including those addressing the prevalence of and/or risk factors for alcohol use in aquatic environments among young people (n = 13); the epidemiology of alcohol-related unintentional drowning in young people (n = 9); and interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm around water (n = 3). Findings suggest that young people commonly consume alcohol around water, particularly young men. We found multiple influences on this behaviour, including the perception of risk, location of aquatic activity and presence of others, particularly peers.

IMPLICATIONS

Understanding the literature addressing alcohol use around water among young people will assist in identifying and setting priorities for drowning prevention, including the need to mitigate the effects of alcohol advertising which promotes drinking in and around water.

CONCLUSION

There is a clear imperative to address the use of alcohol by young people in aquatic environments. These findings have key implications for public health policy, advocacy and practice.

Public Response on Social Media to a Social Marketing Campaign for Influencing Attitudes towards Boating Safety

The purpose of this research paper is to assess the response on Facebook to a social marketing campaign for recreational boating safety. The campaign ran for the 2018 and 2019 boating seasons in British Columbia, Canada. Messages related to boating safety were delivered in multi-media formats, including ten Facebook posts. All public comments on the campaign Facebook page in response to the ads were included in the analysis. Comments were reviewed for tone and subject; those that related directly to the campaign or boating safety-related topics, such as alcohol use or enforcement, were labeled positive, negative or neutral in tone. Metrics such as likes and shares were also noted. The overall engagement rate (defined as engagements over people reached) was 4.1%. The posts were liked >7000 times and received 901 shares. A total of 219 comments were analysed. Almost half of the comments were positive (n = 106, 48.4%). Fifty comments were off-topic (22.8%), 45 were neutral (20.5%) and 18 were negative (8.2%). The majority of comments were positive, indicating that the campaign performed as planned and was generally well received by the people for whom it was intended. Comments illuminated prevailing attitudes towards risks, injuries and safety practices related to recreational boating. Positive comments valued safety as an aspect of having a pleasant experience, rather than a barrier. Negative comments were about perceiving reduced fun of boating, rather than objecting to the campaign itself. As a component of a multi-media social marketing strategy, Facebook can be a source of instant feedback from the campaign audience.

Lake tourism fatalities: a 46-year history of death at Lake Powell

BACKGROUND

This study investigates tourist mortality at Lake Powell over a 46-year period. To date no comprehensive long-term investigation examining the relationship between the lake environment and tourist mortality exists.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted of all tourist fatalities between 1959 and 2005.

RESULTS

There were 351 fatal incidents resulting in 386 deaths between 1959 and 2005. Over the 46-year period, the average number of fatalities was 8.4 (±5.26) per year. Out of all fatalities, 282 were classified as accidental, 80 were classified as natural deaths, 13 were suicides and 5 were classified as homicides. Males accounted for 80% of fatalities and tourists aged 20-29 years and 10-19 years accounted for 36% of all fatalities. The highest number of fatalities was recorded in July (74), May (64), August (63) and June (59). Out of all accidental deaths, boating (29%) and swimming (22%) were the most common pre-death activities. High winds capsizing boats and carbon monoxide poisoning from boat engines were common factors contributing to 31 boating fatalities. Fatigue and exhaustion contributed to 22 swimming deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

Recreational boating and swimming account for over half of all accidental deaths. Tourists visiting Lake Powell for recreational purposes should be informed of the risks associated with the lake environment.

Decadal increase in the number of recreational users is concentrated in no-take marine reserves

In coastal areas, demographic increase is likely to result in greater numbers of recreational users, with potential consequences on marine biodiversity. These effects may also occur within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which are popular with recreational users. Our analysis builds on data collected over a ten-year period during three year-round surveys to appraise changes in recreational boating activities in coral ecosystems. Results show that the number of boaters has greatly increased, particularly so within MPAs during weekends and the warm season, when peaks in boat numbers have become more frequent. We also observed that the number of anchored boats has increased over the period. These changes may be resulting in biophysical impacts that could be detrimental to conservation objectives in MPAs. This steady increase over time may cause changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of users and in their practices, thus highlighting the importance of monitoring recreational activities.

Watercraft and watersport injuries in children: trauma mechanisms and proposed prevention strategies

PURPOSE

Watercraft-associated trauma (WAT) in children has received little attention so far, despite the potentially severe and debilitating resulting injuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate all cases of major watercraft-associated trauma admitted to the Children's of Alabama during the past 10 years, identify patterns in mechanism and injury, and propose future prevention strategies.

METHODS

We reviewed our (prospective) database for children admitted through our trauma center after major WAT. Charts were abstracted for mechanism, epidemiologic data, injury type and injury severity scale (ISS), as well as outcome.

RESULTS

We identified 15 children (6 males, 9 females, age range 7 to 15, mean 12 ± 2 years), involved in 14 accidents. Sharp trauma was inflicted by a propeller (n=4) or a rope (n=1). Towed tubing (riding an inflatable tube while being pulled by a boat) was the most prevalent mechanism (n=6). There was a trend towards higher ISS after towed tubing (24.8 ± 12.4) compared to all other mechanisms (15.1±7.7). Mean length of stay was longer after towed tubing accidents (14.2 ± 7.2 versus 4.9 ± 3.4 days). All patients survived and eventually were discharged home. In one of the incidences, involving 2 victims of this series, the driver of the boat was intoxicated with alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric watercraft-related accidents are infrequent, but often result in major injuries. More awareness for safety measures to prevent these injuries is warranted. Alcohol is not a major factor in pediatric watercraft-associated trauma. Tubes towed by a boat seem to be particularly dangerous, perhaps because of the rider's limited maneuverability and the fact that centrifugal force lets the tube travel well outside the wake in curves. Limiting boat speed and the use of protective gear on towed tubes when children are involved may decrease the incidence and severity of pediatric WAT.

Traumatic fifth finger amputation due to pontoon boat railing design

BACKGROUND

Boating is a common recreational activity that may subject its participants to specific patterns of injury.

OBJECTIVES

We describe two unrelated cases of fifth-finger amputation associated with a specific pontoon boat guardrail design.

CASE REPORT

The individuals in these cases sustained an avulsion-type amputation injury to the fifth finger when their fingers became entrapped in a narrowed portion of the boat railing before jumping into the water.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the widespread use of this type of recreational boat, this apparent design flaw may place additional individuals at risk of significant hand injury with cosmetic and functional loss. Methods to reduce the public health impact of this type of injury are also discussed.

Developing a tool to measure safe recreational boating practice

To reduce the number of recreational boating injuries and incidents, appropriate educational measures are important to improve boat operator safety practice. A tool (the boating safety scale (BSS)) to measure safe practice was developed and tested among Western Australian recreational boaters. The BSS allowed the identification of factors influencing safety behaviour among recreational boaters. Using a database of registered recreational vessels, a telephone survey was conducted in 2008 among a sample of 1002 boat owners and a response fraction of 47.5% was achieved. The majority of boaters displayed a moderate level of safe boating behaviour based on BSS scores. Not being a member of a boating association and going boating less often in protected waters was associated with a higher level of boating safety behaviour. With further development, the BSS can provide information to assist is designing effective intervention strategies to reduce the number of boating-related fatalities, injuries and incidents.