The Advance Water Safety Outreach program was established by Sheriff Gerald Couch in 2013 to educate children annually about the hazards of water activities, in particular Lake Lanier.
Each year between June and August, HCSO training staff with the program go to local parks, day care centers and Lake Lanier beaches to demonstrate water safety techniques and personal floatation devices.
According to Sheriff Couch, the need for such a program for children in the area was there five years ago and still it is still is today.
"While Lake Lanier is a tremendous resource for our community, it is not without hazard. Unfortunately, over the years a number of lake tragedies have involved children, so we think it is incumbent upon us to offer a water safety education program to help protect those kids," said Couch.
Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A reported 55% of children under 14 who drowned in boating accidents were not wearing life jackets.
Lt. Gene Joy with the Advance program feels that delivering the message of how important a life jacket can be to a child is well worth the effort, as is communicating with parents what is and is not a personal floatation device.
"Children and parents can be mistaken on what is a personal floatation device and what is not. often parents assume that things like water-wings, noodles and toy floatation devices can actually protect their children in the lake or at the pool, and that certainly is not the case," Lt. Joy said.
The Advance Water Safety Outreach program is facilitated yearly by the Hall County Sheriff's Office throughout the summer by the ADVANCE Training Staff from June until August.
Since it was implemented in 2013, Advance has educated 3007 county students on water safety through 284 classes.
