Coroner's jury recommends "face mask" ban

[KrisB]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/01/drowning-inquest.html

The coroner's jury also recommended the province ban face masks from all public pools and beaches. Kyle DeBow was wearing a mask when he was found in the water.

Lifeguards testified it is difficult to tell whether children wearing masks in the face-down position are in trouble or simply watching other swimmers underwater.

Lifesaving experts testified the masks are dangerous because they leak and children can choke on the small amount of water in them.

To me, this sounds like they're saying that masks (like us divers wear) should be banned from all public pools and beaches in New Brunswick.

Anybody have any other thoughts on this?

 

[stevetim]

Hmmm. The way kids play in the pool makes the mask irrelevant to this situation. Almost all kids like to splash which can be confused with a child in trouble. The kid only learned to swim one month before his fate, per the mother. It's like giving your newly driver's licensed teenager the keys to a high performance Ferrari. The skills needed for the equipment outweigh the knowledge/skills possessed by the user. On the other hand, I can understand only allowing children to use swim goggles unless they demonstrate proper usage of a dive mask. Sort of like a pre-scuba lesson because in the end our equipment is not truly under the "toys" category.

Just an opinion.

 

[KrisB]

I can totally sympathize with that position -- what I don't get is an out-and-out *ban* on masks. There's nothing said about age restrictions, nor training.

Of course, the media rarely gives the total picture, but this still shocked me. I had to read it twice to realize they were talking about dive masks, not halloween masks!

 

[MikeFerrara]

The logic sounds seriously flawed...lets outlaw snorkeling (masks) on public beaches because it's done face down and confuses the life guards????

The questions should be...what caused the accident and is there anything we could or should do that might prevent such accidents.

They won't ever get the right answer if they don't learn to ask and understand the right question.

 

[dkktsunami]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/01/drowning-inquest.html



To me, this sounds like they're saying that masks (like us divers wear) should be banned from all public pools and beaches in New Brunswick.

Anybody have any other thoughts on this?

Nanny government at work. This is like saying that because 68% of people involved in an auto accident have consumed a dairy product within 8 hours, therefore milk causes accidents and should be banned. Do we really want politicians and legislators deciding what risks are acceptable for us?

 

[The Chairman]

Un-stinking-believable. This sounds like a cover up for faulty parenting. PARENTS should be watching their children in the water. I sure did when they were that age.

 

[1amphibian]

It does sound more like bad parenting to me. Banning the mask is only a knee jerk reaction. It makes the politicians look like they are doing something about a situation that does not even really exist.

Take the convoluted opinion of one lifeguard and lets turn it into local law....good grief.

And I see the other recommendation, that the schools teach all the kids to swim. Oh boy this just keeps getting better.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Chris

 

[redacted]

Pools and beaches kill children. Fill them all in with cement and save lives.:light:

 

[seaviper]

How about banning water..seems to me that would solve the issue....lol

 

[M&P+4]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/01/drowning-inquest.html



To me, this sounds like they're saying that masks (like us divers wear) should be banned from all public pools and beaches in New Brunswick.

Anybody have any other thoughts on this?

Nanny government at work. This is like saying that because 68% of people involved in an auto accident have consumed a dairy product within 8 hours, therefore milk causes accidents and should be banned. Do we really want politicians and legislators deciding what risks are acceptable for us?

We've unleashed the beast - everytime something tragic happens and the 'public' demands something be done about it. This is tragic but no amount of government regulation is going to reverse what happened.