{"id":23107,"date":"2019-07-29T14:35:32","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T14:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/29\/coast-guard-paddleboard-deaths-rise-life-jackets-required\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:09:16","slug":"coast-guard-paddleboard-deaths-rise-life-jackets-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/29\/coast-guard-paddleboard-deaths-rise-life-jackets-required\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard: Paddleboard deaths rise; life jackets required"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEATTLE \u2014 Drowning by people using stand-up paddleboards has increased and authorities say it\u2019s because the victims did not use a life jacket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Coast Guard recorded 11 total paddleboard fatalities in the nation in 2017 but three already this year in western Washington, the Seattle Times reported<\/a> . All three involved people who drowned while not wearing a life vest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Emmons, outreach director for the Water Sports Industry Foundation<\/a>, based in Orlando, Florida, said people buy paddleboards and do not realize the risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People come into the big box stores, the club stores like Costco, in what we call a ‘no service environment,'” he said. “They’ve got a party next weekend, they don’t know anything about boating, don’t know anything about paddling.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At such stores, there likely will not be signs warning customers that the Coast Guard requires paddleboard users to carry a life jacket. Emmons said he’s sending letters to executives of major chain stores asking them to put up some kind of warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It could something as simple as putting on the bottom of the receipt about using a life jacket,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t