LJ 18 Integrate Life Jacket Education into Watercraft Sales and Rentals
Integrate education that meets the national minimum life jacket educational standards at watercraft point of sale or rental services.
Rationale:
Increased education of life jacket use and fit at point-of-sale transactions will help ensure more educated and safety conscious boaters. Additionally, this has the potential to increase sales of life jackets at the time of a boat purchase.
Anticipated Impact:
After implementing this recommendation, you can expect to experience the following outcomes.
- Integrating education that meets the national minimum life jacket educational standards at watercraft point of sale or rental services leads to Increased education on life jacket use and fit at point-of-sale transactions.
- Integrating education that meets the national minimum life jacket educational standards at watercraft point of sale or rental services leads to more educated and safety conscious boaters.
- Integrating education that meets the national minimum life jacket educational standards at watercraft point of sale or rental services leads to an increase in life jackets sales at during the purchase of a boat.
Evidence:
Research concludes that life jacket wear should be promoted and taught as a key safety device when in, on, or near water. However, it has been found that in the canoe and kayak community individuals rarely receive formal or informal instruction on life jacket use.
Success attributed to education interventions that were:
- Specific in their content
- Targeted in their reach
- Delivered in settings appropriate to the target age groups
- Tailored to the specific devices provided.
Additionally, researchers recommend that education messages should be standardized for consistency as increasing life jacket wear requires consistent messaging. It us also recommended that safety instruction be geared towards individual boat types, including guidance of the best life jacket for the type of boating activity. Finally, stakeholders suggest providing information on life jackets where people typically congregate as a better option than making people go somewhere for the information. Future studies should evaluate effective ways to increase life jacket use through boating safety courses, use in swimming lessons, and other education and training programs.
Evidence Sources:
Stallman R.K., Moran K., Quan L., & Langendorfer S. (2017). From swimming skill to water competence: Towards a more inclusive drowning prevention future. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 10 (2) Article 3. https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.10.02.03
Moran K. (2019) Can you float? Part 2 - Perceptions and practice of lifejacket use among young adults. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 11 (3) Article 4. https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.11.03.04
World Health Organization. (2017). Preventing drowning: an implementation guide. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/preventing-drowning-an-implementation-guide
Cox, K.L., Bhaumik, S., Gupta, M., & Jagnoor, J. (2022). Facilitators and barriers of life jacket use for drowning prevention: Qualitative evidence synthesis. Journal of Safety Research, Feb(80), 135-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2021.11.010
Bennett E., Cummings P., Quan L., & Lewis F.M. (1999). Evaluation of a drowning prevention campaign in King County, Washington. Injury Prevention, 5,109-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.5.2.109
Wallis B.A., Watt K., Franklin R.C., Taylor M., Nixon J.W., & Kimble R.M. (2015). Interventions associated with drowning prevention in children and adolescents: systematic literature review. Injury Prevention, 21(3), 195-204. https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041216
Ramos W., Beale A., Chambers P., Dalke S., Fielding R., Kublick L., Langendorfer S., Lees T., Quan L., & Wernicki P. (2015). Primary and secondary downing interventions: The American Red Cross circle of drowning prevention and chain of drowning survival. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 9(1), 89-101. https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.09.01.08
Quan L. (2014). Personal flotation devices. In J. Bierens (Ed), Drowning Prevention, Rescue, Treatment (2nd ed, pp. 225-229). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04253-9_33
Quan L, & Gilchrist J. (2022). The epidemiology and prevention of drowning. Boulton M.L., & Wallace R.B.(Eds.), Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health & Preventive Medicine (16th ed.). McGraw Hill. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=3078§ionid=257531213
Quan L., Bennett E., Cummings P., Trusty M.N., & Treser C.D. (1998). Are life vests worn? A multiregional observational study of personal flotation device use in small boats. Injury Prevention, 4, 203-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.4.3.203
Stempski S., Schiff M., Bennett E., & Quan L. (2014). A case-control study of boat-related injuries and fatalities in Washington state. Injury Prevention. 20(4), 232-237. https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2013-041022
McKnight J.A., Becker W.W., Pettit A.J., & McKnight S.A. (2007). Human error in recreational boating. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 39, 398-405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2006.09.004
Outdoor Foundation. (2019). Special report on paddlesports and safety. https://americancanoe.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/sei-educationalresources/2019specialreporton_paddl.pdf
Mangione T. (ed). (2021). Summary of suggestions for increasing life jacket use. Unpublished survey notes from online survey conducted with persons indicating interest in life jackets via https://www.watersafetyusa.org/nwsap.html
High Risk Populations Addressed:
Populations whose risk of drowning decreases the most with the implementation of this recommendation may have one or more of the following characteristics.
-Novice and first time boaters -Boaters who purchase vessels at both marine and non-marine facilities (sporting goods store, membership warehouse, etc)
Evaluation Metrics:
Indicators of long-term impact:
- Decrease in drownings among new and novice boaters
- Increase in the number of retailers participating
- Increase in the number of events held, and the number of participants at events
- Increase in sales of targeted safety items.
Indicators of intermediate impact:
- Life jacket education and awareness is an integral part of all boat and watercraft sales
- Increased education, awareness, and use of life jackets by new and novice boaters
- Increased use of life jacket use by all boaters
Indicators of initial impact:
- Partnerships are developed and strengthened with retailers, marine industry sales, and manufacturers ensuring consistency and implementation of point-of-sale life jacket education
Implementation:
Consider the following to ensure successful implementation:
- Create and establish partnerships with key retailer and manufacturers such as Bass Pro Shops, West Marine, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, Target, etc.
- Provide a toolkit of resources, including point of purchase materials, for smooth education implementation, including customizable options and a scalable toolkit for small, local retailers.
- Provide multiple options and communication channels for awareness including both online and in-store options.
- Work with leading marine retailers, brokerage or sales firms, marinas, and life jacket manufacturers to develop consistent educational tools.
- Fund the development of education resources.
- Developed marketing for this program that provides retailers and manufacturers with incentives.
- Develop positive public relations.
- Create a QR Code with the appropriate information, thus eliminating the need for shelf or wall space.
- Promote the positive impact this recommendation would have on public health, better equipped boaters utilizing safety gear in a rescue will help save lives.
Challenges to Implementation:
When implementing this recommendation, you might encounter challenges related to the following factors.
- The marine sales industry (large retailers, boat brokers, etc.) may be apprehensive to take on the eduction and resources.
- There may be a lack of appropriate space to post education resources or have them available.
- Implementation through retailers that sell watercraft but it is not the main sales drive (membership warehouses, sporting good stores, etc.) may be challenging.
Potential Facilitators:
The following factors might facilitate the implementation of this recommendation.
- The National Safe Boating Council developed a template that used national standards, and implemented it in retail stores as part of a grant. This project provided important results as part of research that should be reviewed.
- The Point of Sale program could be considered a pilot program that could be scaled up.
- This program needs partners to help scale it up nationwide.
- A positive outcome for retailers is increased sales through “up-selling”, and could be used as a selling point for this recommendation.
- Collaborate with the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and National Safe Boating Council.