The Fourth of July week is upon us and the staff at Blue Marsh Lake is encouraging visitors to have fun, stay safe, and make it home alive. The week of the Fourth of July is the busiest week of the year at the project site, where people enjoy fishing, swimming, boating, hiking and more. While outdoor recreation is fun and healthy, we urge visitors to plan for the unexpected and think about these three safety tips this Fourth of July week.
- Alcohol and Water don’t mix.
Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor of all boating accidents (nearly 20 percent). Just one drink can impair balance, vision, judgment, and reaction time. Research shows that four hours of boating produces fatigue that simulates drunkenness. Boating fatigue combined with alcohol consumption intensifies the effects of both and increases accident risks.
Boaters should take appropriate safety classes, be familiar with state laws and have proper safety equipment on board before boating. Seventy percent of reported fatalities occurred on boats where the operator had not received boating safety instruction, according to U.S. Coast Guard statistics.
- Swimming and Knowing Your Limits
At U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sites, swimming in non-designated areas is the leading cause (47%) for water-related fatalities nationwide. Of all swimming-related fatalities, 87 percent of those were in non-designated swimming areas. Don't take chances by over-estimating swimming skills, and swim only in designated areas.
Release no. 13-015