Why You Should Wear A Life Vest

A life jacket is crucial to any water sport athlete, whether you are novice or a master. If you are unaware as to why you should wear a life vest. Here are the reasons why you should do it.

Prevents you from drowning

It has been shown that 90% of the people who drown don't wear life vests. This means that the life vest plays a major role in preventing people from drowning.

Since the jacket is usually aired, it provides you with buoyancy that keeps you afloat in case your boat capsizes. By being kept afloat you can easily swim to safety and even call for help.

Prevents hypothermia

Other than keeping you afloat, the jacket also helps you in conserving your body heat thus preventing hypothermia that is common due to the cold water.

For you to conserve your body heat, you need to assume heat saving positions. Some of the best postures that you can assume are the HELP (heat escape lessening posture) and Huddle positions.

To assume the HELP position, you need to draw your knees up to your chest with your face out of the water. You should then hold your upper arms at your sides and your lower arms against or across your chest.

The huddle position is common when two or more people have had a boat accident. To assume the position, you should put your arms around two people in order to bring your chests together.

If there are three or more people, you should put your arms over their shoulders so that the sides of your chests are brought together. If there are children or elderly people, they should be brought at the middle of the huddle.

These positions help you to conserve your body heat while waiting for help to arrive.

Cushions your body

As mentioned, the life vest is usually aired; Therefore, it cushions your body if you were to hit a hard surface. In such cases the life jacket protects you from the impact of the hard object.

These are some of the reasons as to why you should wear a life jacket. You should note that the jacket can't provide you with the above benefits if you are not wearing it; you have to be wearing it to get the benefits. If you have any children, you should ensure that all of them are wearing the jackets.

Although, life jackets provide you with the necessary protection, the jackets should not be a substitute for close supervision. This means that even if your child is wearing a life jacket, you should ensure that you pay close attention to him or her.