Info that might be useful to members of fishing clubs, etc, elsewhere
in the country:

Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and Washington State
Parks
participate in "Keep Hope Afloat" campaign

5,000 Mustang Survival children's lifejackets to be given away at the
Washington Sportsmen's Show®, January 24-28

PUYALLUP---With a daily giveaway of up to 1,000 properly fitted
lifejackets
to children 12 and under, "Keep Hope Afloat" makes its debut at the
Washington Sportsmen's Show®, January 24-28 at the Puyallup Fair and
Events
Center. The five-day show is presented by Toyota.

A major campaign to educate families about water safety and avoiding
drowning in area lakes, rivers and Puget Sound (or closer to home...a
backyard pool), "Keep Hope Afloat" is a program developed by the PFD
Charitable Foundation and presented by Children's Hospital and Regional
Medical Center and Washington State Parks.

As part of the giveaway, children and their parents will participate in
a
10-minute boating safety presentation conducted by representatives of
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Washington State
Parks, the
U.S. Coast Guard and volunteer organizations.

Manufactured by industry leader Mustang Survival of Richmond, B.C., the
lifejackets have been purchased by the PFD Charitable Foundation and
have a
retail value of over $50 each. The PFD Charitable Foundation, whose
sole
mission is to get children into properly fitted life jackets, conducts
fundraising in order to purchase lifejackets, which are then donated,
to
families at public events.

The daily giveaway of 1,000 properly fitted lifejackets is limited to
children 12 and under and sizes are limited to quantities on hand. A
child
must be present in order to receive their lifejacket.

The PFD Charitable Foundation is also encouraging families, facilities
and
clubs to donate used youth and adult lifejackets that are in good
condition
but no longer fit. These jackets will be inspected and certified by
U.S.
Coast Guard officials and re-distributed to boating safety programs and
organizations throughout the Northwest, or discarded if they are in
poor
condition. In exchange, donors may receive a new youth lifejacket (ages
12
and under). Tax-deductible cash donations can also be made at the show
and
receipts for tax purposes will be provided.

"This is a great opportunity for families to learn how to stay safe
while
they have fun around the water. At the same time, they can better
protect
their children by getting a comfortable, stylish, properly fitted
lifejacket," said Elizabeth Bennett, health education manager at
Children's
Hospital and Regional Medical Center. "No one expects to get into
trouble in
the water. Wearing a lifejacket is one of the best ways to be
prepared."

"If a child's lifejacket isn't the right size, it won't work
properly-and
that puts their life at risk," said Dan Shipman, U. S. Coast Guard
program
manager for recreational boating safety in this region. "This is a
unique
initiative giving families the tools and education to keep their
children
safe."

Washington State regulations require that children 12 and under wear a
properly sized, U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket on any boat under
19
feet. In addition, all boats (regardless of size) must carry a
properly
fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket for every person onboard.

As the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children
in
the United States under the age of 14, drowning can be prevented,
according
to Dr. Linda Quan, national drowning expert at Children's Hospital and
Regional Medical Center. In Washington State, 90 children under the
age of
15 drowned from 1999-2003.

"In too many cases, drowning deaths could have been avoided if the
child had
been wearing a properly fitted lifejacket," said Dr. Quan. "'Keep Hope
Afloat' is big step towards avoiding tragic deaths and educating the
public
about safe conduct in and near the water."

Representatives from Mustang Survival (www.mustangsurvival.com) will be
on
hand to answer questions from parents about the company's lifesaving
gear,
including its latest inflatable lifejackets and flotation coats "for
sale"
at the show for all members of the family. The Vancouver, B.C.-based
manufacturer of life jackets and survival equipment is an avid
supporter of
The PFD Charitable Foundation's boating safety program, and supports
the
Washington Sportsmen' Show for their vision and commitment in offering
this
non-profit outreach.

"We support many water safety programs, but this one certainly raises
the
bar, and stands out in making a direct impact," said Bob Askew, CEO of
Mustang Survival.

"Keep Hope Afloat" and other feature attractions join a huge line-up of
fishing and hunting displays at the state's largest sporstmen's show
event.
For more information, visit www.otshows.com

The 2007 Washington Sportsmen Show® presented by Toyota

Cutting to the chase, Chuck. Is there an address in which people can
donate to this cause?


Chuck Gould wrote:
Info that might be useful to members of fishing clubs, etc, elsewhere
in the country:

Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and Washington State
Parks
participate in "Keep Hope Afloat" campaign

5,000 Mustang Survival children's lifejackets to be given away at the
Washington Sportsmen's Show®, January 24-28

PUYALLUP---With a daily giveaway of up to 1,000 properly fitted
lifejackets
to children 12 and under, "Keep Hope Afloat" makes its debut at the
Washington Sportsmen's Show®, January 24-28 at the Puyallup Fair and
Events
Center. The five-day show is presented by Toyota.

A major campaign to educate families about water safety and avoiding
drowning in area lakes, rivers and Puget Sound (or closer to home...a
backyard pool), "Keep Hope Afloat" is a program developed by the PFD
Charitable Foundation and presented by Children's Hospital and Regional
Medical Center and Washington State Parks.

As part of the giveaway, children and their parents will participate in
a
10-minute boating safety presentation conducted by representatives of
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Washington State
Parks, the
U.S. Coast Guard and volunteer organizations.

Manufactured by industry leader Mustang Survival of Richmond, B.C., the
lifejackets have been purchased by the PFD Charitable Foundation and
have a
retail value of over $50 each. The PFD Charitable Foundation, whose
sole
mission is to get children into properly fitted life jackets, conducts
fundraising in order to purchase lifejackets, which are then donated,
to
families at public events.

The daily giveaway of 1,000 properly fitted lifejackets is limited to
children 12 and under and sizes are limited to quantities on hand. A
child
must be present in order to receive their lifejacket.

The PFD Charitable Foundation is also encouraging families, facilities
and
clubs to donate used youth and adult lifejackets that are in good
condition
but no longer fit. These jackets will be inspected and certified by
U.S.
Coast Guard officials and re-distributed to boating safety programs and
organizations throughout the Northwest, or discarded if they are in
poor
condition. In exchange, donors may receive a new youth lifejacket (ages
12
and under). Tax-deductible cash donations can also be made at the show
and
receipts for tax purposes will be provided.

"This is a great opportunity for families to learn how to stay safe
while
they have fun around the water. At the same time, they can better
protect
their children by getting a comfortable, stylish, properly fitted
lifejacket," said Elizabeth Bennett, health education manager at
Children's
Hospital and Regional Medical Center. "No one expects to get into
trouble in
the water. Wearing a lifejacket is one of the best ways to be
prepared."

"If a child's lifejacket isn't the right size, it won't work
properly-and
that puts their life at risk," said Dan Shipman, U. S. Coast Guard
program
manager for recreational boating safety in this region. "This is a
unique
initiative giving families the tools and education to keep their
children
safe."

Washington State regulations require that children 12 and under wear a
properly sized, U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket on any boat under
19
feet. In addition, all boats (regardless of size) must carry a
properly
fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket for every person onboard.

As the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children
in
the United States under the age of 14, drowning can be prevented,
according
to Dr. Linda Quan, national drowning expert at Children's Hospital and
Regional Medical Center. In Washington State, 90 children under the
age of
15 drowned from 1999-2003.

"In too many cases, drowning deaths could have been avoided if the
child had
been wearing a properly fitted lifejacket," said Dr. Quan. "'Keep Hope
Afloat' is big step towards avoiding tragic deaths and educating the
public
about safe conduct in and near the water."

Representatives from Mustang Survival (www.mustangsurvival.com) will be
on
hand to answer questions from parents about the company's lifesaving
gear,
including its latest inflatable lifejackets and flotation coats "for
sale"
at the show for all members of the family. The Vancouver, B.C.-based
manufacturer of life jackets and survival equipment is an avid
supporter of
The PFD Charitable Foundation's boating safety program, and supports
the
Washington Sportsmen' Show for their vision and commitment in offering
this
non-profit outreach.

"We support many water safety programs, but this one certainly raises
the
bar, and stands out in making a direct impact," said Bob Askew, CEO of
Mustang Survival.

"Keep Hope Afloat" and other feature attractions join a huge line-up of
fishing and hunting displays at the state's largest sporstmen's show
event.
For more information, visit www.otshows.com

The 2007 Washington Sportsmen Show® presented by Toyota

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 1 Jan 2007 16:59:21 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

info that might be useful to members of fishing clubs, etc, elsewhere
in the country:

Interesting.

I wonder how they are "properly fitted".

The only real way to tell if a child's vest is properly fitted is to
put the child in a pool with the life jacket and see if the child will
float face up instead of face down or even upside down.

Has to do with the child's center of gravity. Not all children of a
certain age or weight have the same center of gravity.

Now, ask me how I know this?

Well, ok - I'll tell you anyway. I went through six different vests,
all of the appropriate size and fit until I found one that would allow
my niece to float upright over a sustained period of time, head out of
the water in a dead float.


Here's a link to a State of Oregon Marine Board site that has at least
a basic drawing of a properly fitted life jacket.

http://www.marinebd.osmb.state.or.us/

I can almost certainly guarantee they will be fitting these by sight
and feel and not subjecting the kids to a dunking. :-)

Even when the oddball COG's of kids at various stages of development
are taken into account, it would seem likely that the child is better
off with a jacket that is properly sized, etc, than with a randomly
selected jacket intended for an adult.

Tim wrote:
Cutting to the chase, Chuck. Is there an address in which people can
donate to this cause?


I'm not finding a link to the PFD Charitable Foundation, but if you
really wanted to donate I think somebody at Mustang could put you in
touch:

http://www.mustangsurvival.com/company/whatwedo/

I'll look into it. Thanks Chuck!



Chuck Gould wrote:
Tim wrote:
Cutting to the chase, Chuck. Is there an address in which people can
donate to this cause?


I'm not finding a link to the PFD Charitable Foundation, but if you
really wanted to donate I think somebody at Mustang could put you in
touch:

http://www.mustangsurvival.com/company/whatwedo/

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:20:11 GMT, Tom Francis
wrote:

On 1 Jan 2007 17:51:55 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 1 Jan 2007 16:59:21 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

info that might be useful to members of fishing clubs, etc, elsewhere
in the country:

Interesting.

I wonder how they are "properly fitted".

The only real way to tell if a child's vest is properly fitted is to
put the child in a pool with the life jacket and see if the child will
float face up instead of face down or even upside down.

Has to do with the child's center of gravity. Not all children of a
certain age or weight have the same center of gravity.

Now, ask me how I know this?

Well, ok - I'll tell you anyway. I went through six different vests,
all of the appropriate size and fit until I found one that would allow
my niece to float upright over a sustained period of time, head out of
the water in a dead float.


Here's a link to a State of Oregon Marine Board site that has at least
a basic drawing of a properly fitted life jacket.

http://www.marinebd.osmb.state.or.us/

I can almost certainly guarantee they will be fitting these by sight
and feel and not subjecting the kids to a dunking. :-)

Even when the oddball COG's of kids at various stages of development
are taken into account, it would seem likely that the child is better
off with a jacket that is properly sized, etc, than with a randomly
selected jacket intended for an adult.

You would think so wouldn't you, but it's not the case at all. All
the PFDs I tested made the child float. Unfortunately, they made the
kid float face down or forced the child onto her back. I finally
found one Sterns vest style that kept her upright. These were
children's PFDs by the way - not "randomly selected" adult jackets -
I'm not that stupid.

Part of the problem is that children aren't heavy enough for a one
size fits all strategy you have with adult PFD's. Children of the
same age and weight can have completely different body types which
changes their center of gravity and because of this they will float in
different attitudes to the water. A shorter child will tend to float
differently with a PFD than one who is tall or one with long legs. A
child can also change very rapidly rendering a PFD ineffective in
terms of fit - what may fit this January, might not fit in July.

You can get away with one size fits all for adults because of the
weight difference - with children, it's a whole different ball game
and just having one "properly fitted" isn't the solution either. I
wouldn't gamble my child's future on it.

Well, hopefully the fit is done as well as possible on site, and the
parents are told to test the fit in water at their earliest. That covers
the bases fairly well.

Still sounds like a good way to get kids into life jackets which are *not*
randomly picked adult jackets!
--
John

Tom Francis wrote:
On 1 Jan 2007 17:51:55 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 1 Jan 2007 16:59:21 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

info that might be useful to members of fishing clubs, etc, elsewhere
in the country:

Interesting.

I wonder how they are "properly fitted".

The only real way to tell if a child's vest is properly fitted is to
put the child in a pool with the life jacket and see if the child will
float face up instead of face down or even upside down.

Has to do with the child's center of gravity. Not all children of a
certain age or weight have the same center of gravity.

Now, ask me how I know this?

Well, ok - I'll tell you anyway. I went through six different vests,
all of the appropriate size and fit until I found one that would allow
my niece to float upright over a sustained period of time, head out of
the water in a dead float.


Here's a link to a State of Oregon Marine Board site that has at least
a basic drawing of a properly fitted life jacket.

http://www.marinebd.osmb.state.or.us/

I can almost certainly guarantee they will be fitting these by sight
and feel and not subjecting the kids to a dunking. :-)

Even when the oddball COG's of kids at various stages of development
are taken into account, it would seem likely that the child is better
off with a jacket that is properly sized, etc, than with a randomly
selected jacket intended for an adult.

You would think so wouldn't you, but it's not the case at all. All
the PFDs I tested made the child float. Unfortunately, they made the
kid float face down or forced the child onto her back. I finally
found one Sterns vest style that kept her upright. These were
children's PFDs by the way - not "randomly selected" adult jackets -
I'm not that stupid.

Nobody implied that you were stupid or that you recommended putting
kids in randomly selected adult life jackets.

The testing you describe is an exhaustive process that will certainly
produce a better fit and result than simply fitting a jacket to a child
without testing it. Assuming that most people attending a sportsman's
show, etc, are not going to want their kid dunked- (and doing so might
scare some little kids so badly that they'll never go near the water
again), the fitting of a life jacket by sight and feel is better than
not having a kids jacket aboard- in which case the kids would indeed be
reduced to wearing randomly selected adult jackets.



Part of the problem is that children aren't heavy enough for a one
size fits all strategy you have with adult PFD's. Children of the
same age and weight can have completely different body types which
changes their center of gravity and because of this they will float in
different attitudes to the water. A shorter child will tend to float
differently with a PFD than one who is tall or one with long legs. A
child can also change very rapidly rendering a PFD ineffective in
terms of fit - what may fit this January, might not fit in July.

One of the benefits of the program is that people can bring back "last
year's"
PFD if their kid has experienced a growing spurt and get a bigger
size.


You can get away with one size fits all for adults because of the
weight difference - with children, it's a whole different ball game
and just having one "properly fitted" isn't the solution either. I
wouldn't gamble my child's future on it.

In which case you've got a very lucky child. Compared to what many
people do, (buy enough life jackets as part of a "Coast Guard Kit" to
meet the minimum safety requirements and then toss the whole works into
the bottom of a locker filled with junk and have no idea whether any of
the jackets fit the 350-pound papa boater or the 35-pound baby boater),
the giveaway program is an enormous improvement. It's not as exhaustive
a procedure as you recommend and there is no doubt yours is better- but
the program will get some kids into kids' life jackets who otherwise
wouldn't be. Few people (and not all chandlers) will have the patience
for the process of buying, testing, and returning a long series of life
jackets for each child and then repeating the process at each stage of
the child's growth and development.

One person in 100 would actually do what you recommend, even though the
advice is excellent.

Gene Kearns wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:20:11 GMT, Tom Francis
wrote:

Part of the problem is that children aren't heavy enough for a one
size fits all strategy you have with adult PFD's. Children of the
same age and weight can have completely different body types which
changes their center of gravity and because of this they will float in
different attitudes to the water. A shorter child will tend to float
differently with a PFD than one who is tall or one with long legs. A
child can also change very rapidly rendering a PFD ineffective in
terms of fit - what may fit this January, might not fit in July.

*Clearly, the answer is lead lined swim shoes!*
--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.



Cement might be better. Lead can be harmful to developing children.

Don White wrote:
Gene Kearns wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:20:11 GMT, Tom Francis
wrote:

Part of the problem is that children aren't heavy enough for a one
size fits all strategy you have with adult PFD's. Children of the
same age and weight can have completely different body types which
changes their center of gravity and because of this they will float in
different attitudes to the water. A shorter child will tend to float
differently with a PFD than one who is tall or one with long legs. A
child can also change very rapidly rendering a PFD ineffective in
terms of fit - what may fit this January, might not fit in July.

*Clearly, the answer is lead lined swim shoes!*
--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.



Cement might be better. Lead can be harmful to developing children.


Cement?

You mean like the "Fullers earth" ships made in WWII ?

"Tim" wrote in message
ps.com...

Don White wrote:
Gene Kearns wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:20:11 GMT, Tom Francis
wrote:

Part of the problem is that children aren't heavy enough for a one
size fits all strategy you have with adult PFD's. Children of the
same age and weight can have completely different body types which
changes their center of gravity and because of this they will float in
different attitudes to the water. A shorter child will tend to float
differently with a PFD than one who is tall or one with long legs. A
child can also change very rapidly rendering a PFD ineffective in
terms of fit - what may fit this January, might not fit in July.

*Clearly, the answer is lead lined swim shoes!*
--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.



Cement might be better. Lead can be harmful to developing children.


Cement?

You mean like the "Fullers earth" ships made in WWII ?

No...more like minature versions of the type our neighbourhood 'made guy'
used to dispose of victims.
Small 5 lb versions might be enough to offset the lifejacket flotation keep
a child perfectly vertical in the water...as per Gene's theory.