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PFDMA is Successful in Securing a Coast Guard Grant to Fund an Educational Outreach Program
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Life jacket, life vest, personal floation device (pfd)…. Whatever you call it, IT ONLY WORKS IF YOU WEAR IT !
The essence of all boating safety organizations is to save lives. The US Coast Guard has a more specific objective to reduce boating fatalities to below 400 by the year 2007, and it has largely focused on interventions to increase lifejacket wear to achieve this goal. The percentage of total boating fatalities due to drowning declined from 83% in 1993 to 70% in 1998, so clearly the combined efforts of coalition based boating safety initiatives is working, but there is still much work to do in this area! The boating community in general has done an admirable job of getting life jacket message out to the boating public, however wear studies show that a large portion of boaters still don't wear lifejackets. The 1999 National PFD Wear Rate Study concluded that boaters wore PFDs only about 21.4% of the time! Attitudes about lifejacket use are reinforced by everyday practices in the boating environment in which kids stop wearing lifejackets when they grow older, parents don't wear lifejackets, boaters are depicted in advertising without lifejackets, and professional sportsmen and celebrity role models don't wear them either! Lack of information about the advances in lifejackets that offer comfort and customized uses for particular activities (particularly the new inflatable options) has been slow to penetrate the marketplace and helps to further perpetuate negative attitudes towards lifejackets. The Personal Flotation Device Manufacturers Association continually works hard to promote the use of lifejackets. It partners with other boating safety groups to spread the message that "lifejackets save lives". As part of this effort, earlier this year the PFDMA applied for a Coast Guard grant, (for the second year running), to develop a PFD Educational Outreach Program. The application was successful, and $85,000 was awarded to the association. In this regard an Advisory Group, which includes broad representation from the industy recently met for the first time in Florida. Initial plans involve the production of two videos: one aimed at a consumer audience, and one for educators and sales personnel. These videos will be shot by sporting category (e.g. recreational boating, day sailing, off shore sailing, water sports, fishing/hunting, off shore power, paddlesports, windsurfing), and will address issues such as suitability, performance characteristics, comfort etc., for each particular sporting segment. In order to strengthen the message, the committee plans to involve celebrities and industry spokespersons in the production. A detailed PR and marketing campaign for the distribution of the videos is also part of the Educational Outreach Program, and the committee's intention is to roll out this part of the program to coincide with the launch of the 2003 boat show season. Plans include:
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