What I learnt from Water Safety

In Te Ngahere Whaea Tracey, our swim safe teacher, came back to our school and talked to us about water safety. We were learning about how to get out of a rip and different ways to call for help if you are lost or need saving in the sea. Whaea Tracey showed us a few things that could help you if you’re lost in the ocean.

 She showed us about 4 different types of flares. One of them was called parachute flare and you open the cap and it will fly into the sky and a parachute will open so it stays up in the air for longer. It takes about 60 minutes to float back down to the sea. There was another flare called the orange cloud but the problem with this one is that it’s only visible at day because it's hard to see at night. When you open the cap you hold it up and an orange cloud will hover over you. There's was one that you also hold in your hand and it will set a flare inside it so you need to hold it but there are two problems with this flare. It will get very hot in you hand and it is NOT waterproof. 

  There were also emergency beacons that will send a message to the lifeguard saying where you are. One of them was a large one, that you put on the boat and one was a smaller one which was attached to your life jacket. She also talked about the five things to remember when you’re going on a boat: 

1. Tell someone where you're going, when you will be back, how many of you are going
2. Check the weather forecast and conditions at sea to make sure its fine.
3. Wear a lifejacket, not just have it near you. 
4. Put your safety first 
5. Have a device/radio that's waterproof

With this new knowledge I will make sure when I’m on a boat to make sure the person I’m with knows hot to use a flare and what the lifeguard number is on the radio.(I learnt it was 16)

I hope you learnt something and remember, stay safe.

Bye.