Free-use Floatation

Tom Giffey

Every summer there are tragic headlines about deaths on some of the many waterways in Wisconsin, deaths that often are entirely preventable. A new loaner life jacket program is aimed at keeping these waterways safer. In May the Water Safety Task Force – a coalition of 16 safety-minded Chippewa Valley groups, including government agencies, health car providers, and nonprofit groups – built a life jacket kiosk at the boat launch at Riverside Park along the Chippewa River on Eau Claire’s north side. (A similar kiosk is slated for Lake Altoona, while two others in the area are under consideration.) The kiosk features safety information as well as life jackets in multiple sizes that can be borrowed and then returned at the end of your aquatic adventure. Eau Claire County is one of about 30 test locations statewide for the program, which is funded through $67,000 in federal grants as well as the Regional Trauma Advisory Council and is modeled after a successful program in Alaska (which loans out life jackets at 600 locations in that state). Because you can’t put a price on safety, or on these loaner life jackets, you should think twice if you’re tempted to permanently “borrow” one: All will be emblazoned with the words “DNR Loaner Life Jacket.”