Are there more drownings this year?
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Over the weekend, it looks like another person drowned in the Snake River near Idaho Falls. That’s two in two or three weeks. Another guy drowned on Upper Palisades Lake earlier, and of course the teenager from Pocatello that drowned in the Snake near Massacre Rocks.
I should also mention the family that got into trouble in the water near Heise. Thankfully they were wearing life jackets and they’re all ok.
Maybe this happens every year and we just forget, but it seems like the water is more dangerous this year. I don’t remember having this many drownings in the area in a long time, if ever.
This may be a strange connection, but people are probably choosing to stay closer to home to recreate because of fuel prices. Or is the water higher and more dangerous? Or is my memory just not serving me correctly?
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Comments
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0 The Lord was definately looking out for that little girl that was with her family near Heise. The news said the parents were “experienced” with their canoe. With the river running as high and fast as it is, would all “experienced” people with a canoe take their 14 month old baby with them on the river? And this last victim, I heard he wasn’t wearing a life jacket and was wearing cowboy boots…makes it kinda hard to swim if you have to. I think the local county and city leaders should put an ordinance in place that all people on the river wear life preservers, if people can’t take care of themselves then they need measures taken to do that for them. HUGE KUDO’s to the Central Fire District Guy that went in the river and pulled that little girl out then started cpr and didn’t stop until relieved by IFFD Paramedics and AIR1.
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0 0 I am not sure if there are more drownings or if I am hyper aware of them since my own family went into the drink up near Swan Valley two years ago on July 3rd. We thought we were experienced rafters, too, and yet everything that could go wrong, did.
We wore life jackets and got out of it with minor scrapes and bruises and cracked ribs, and pretty hefty dollar losses for the ER bills, ambulance rides, all our eyeglasses and digital camera and cell phones and electronic car keys.
The BCSO mentioned that the Palisades dam on the river has an automatic flow increase if called for by the irrigators near the Twin Falls area (if I’m remembering correctly) and so the sudden increase that caused us some grief was just a natural part of that river flow, and couldn’t be planned for.
Hopefully folks will be worried by the recent drownings and take extra care.
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0 0 Hopefully folks will be worried by the recent drownings and take extra care.
I am not sure if there are more drownings or if I am hyper aware of them since my own family went into the drink up near Swan Valley two years ago on July 3rd. We thought we were experienced rafters, too, and yet everything that could go wrong, did.
We were fortunate. We wore life jackets and got out of it with minor scrapes and bruises and cracked ribs, and pretty hefty dollar losses for the ER bills, ambulance rides, all our eyeglasses and digital camera and cell phones and electronic car keys.
The BCSO mentioned that the Palisades dam on the river has an automatic flow increase if called for by the irrigators near the Twin Falls area (if I’m remembering correctly) and so the sudden increase that caused us some grief was just a natural part of that river flow, and couldn’t be planned for.
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0 0 I am hoping that people will take notice due to the media attention and be more alert and cautious. I notice these things more due to personal reasons.
My family had a near death rafting experience on July 3, 2006 up by the Palisades Dam. We were fortunate, all it cost us was about $3000 in replacements for eyeglasses, cell phones and the camera, and emergency room bills for cracked ribs and hypothermia…
The Sheriff’s department said that the river flow can change without notice because the downstream irrigators push a button. All our experience didn’t help us much when the river went wild. But again, we were very lucky.
And we haven’t gone back, not once.
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0 0 Maybe not more drownings than average, but then I’m more aware of them since my own episode 2 years ago.
I hope the coverage gets people’s attention so they take more care.
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0 0 It’s really sad and what a horrible way to go. Thanks for posting a reminder to all of us Open Mind, on how unsafe the water can be.
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0 0 I’d heard that the little girl actually ended up dying later that night or the next day while still at the hospital. Anyone know if thats correct or not?
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0 0 The news story said the 17 year old girl was helping in the search for her dad…
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0 0 I’m referring to the baby in the Heise incident. The story I heard was that the baby died either later at EIRMC or in Salt Lake after being life flighted.
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0 0 Oh, sorry ’bout that! I haven’t heard what happened to that little girl.
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0 0 Why don’t people wear life jackets when on the river?
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0 0 We wore life jackets faithfully, which was the only reason we’re alive today. It cost us $3000 to replace all our stuff (eyeglasses, camera, cell phones) and pay the medical expenses, etc after our accident…but we learned a big lesson…
That river (especially when the Dam is releasing extra water for downstream irrigators) is unpredictable, no matter how experienced we thought we were.
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0 0 the little girl is alive and at home. she is doing well talking and playing like usual.
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0 0 Re comment #8.
Its proof that Darwin was right. Anyone who goes boating on a river without a life jacket is a potential Darwin award winner.
Also, I’m glad to hear the baby is actually alive. But I think those parents should be charged criminally for child endangerment. Anyone who takes a 14 month old rafting on the river is incredibly foolish.
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0 0 My family wore lifejackets at all times on the water. It saved our lives when we had our accident 2 yrs ago. We were very fortunate.
The river is not a tame waterway. It can be fun but it can be very dangerous.
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0 0 FYI here is the post accident interview with the Rigby family, after the little girl was released from the hospital http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?s=8738916
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0 0 This type of thing happens everywhere there is water. Rivers, lakes, canals, oceans, it doesn’t matter. We’re not the only place that has this problem. I’ve lived near the ocean most of my life and there were drownings, boating and jet ski accidents, shark attacks all the time. Like anything else in life, some people just don’t use common sense when on the water and other times it’s just an accident. More often than not these “accidents” can be easily avoided.
The fact is, when you’re on a fast moving river such as the Snake, it’s really common sense that you should be wearing a life jacket, no matter how well you think you can swim.
imo
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0 0 My cousin is currently lost on a river in MT - it’s been five days so we’re not hugely hopeful. He wasn’t in a boat, he was swimming and got caught in a current.
About five years ago we were at a family reunion in Lava - the place where everybody likes to rent a tube and “float” down those freaking rapids. It blew my mind how many adults had BABIES (not toddlers - BABIES) on thier tubes as they careened wildly down the rapids (weeeeeeeeeee).
I’m not guiltless, the tubing looked like fun so I coughed up six dollars and got myself a tube. I flipped off as I hit one particular rapid and sure enough I went under and hit my head. Lucky for me the water was only a couple feet deep at that point and my cousin-in-law saw my accident so he risked the rapids to come pull me up and out, but for hours I felt very disjointed, emotionally charged (sad and angry), and very tired (they wouldn’t let me sleep, one of the family members is an EMT and said it would be best for them to keep an eye on me).
All I got was a bump on the head and a mild concussion, but even with that I couldn’t “think right” for hours after the fact. Even relatively mild head injuries can render a person incapable of making wise decisions. When I was under two mere feet of water I couldn’t tell which end was up - had my cousin-in-law not rushed to my rescue I, an adult, could have drowned in two feet of running water.
The fact that people go without life jackets IS lame to me especially after my accidnet (I always wear one now, so does my dog when we kayak) but it seems inconceivably senseless to me that people put KIDS on the water without life jackets, especially in rapidly moving, rocky-under-the-surface water. I could not believe what I saw in the river at Lava Hot Springs.
The river is taking more people this year, perhaps even one whose DNA is similar to mine. The river is nothing to mess around with. Please wear a life jacket when you go boating and even when you go swimming in water that has rapids. Head injuries can happen quickly and from personal experience I know how a simple knock to the noggin can confuse a person from knowing which end is up in the water. BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!
Peace.
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0 0 i know how to fix this problem, lets just ban swimming in the river, that approach has worked with drugs, driving without seat belts, drinking in public, even banning gay marriage seems to keep same gender people from living together. To top it off the amount of money spent enforcing it all is so worth the lives saved too, despite the inconvenience caused to those who might be responsible.
Sarcasm aside, it all comes down to education, we live in a state that has many rivers and places to get lost, hurt, or killed in, yet the classes we all should have taken in highschool about this stuff are all elective, optional. We are all probably better off learning natures way though instead of relying on an education system, survival of the fittest is all it takes.
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0 0 All of the accidents are sad and or tragic.
What needs to be stressed in the media and much to their neglect and shame they have not stressed are the following:
Life jacket is a must-wear item on the river,
Know the stretch to be run, or get advice on the stretch, as to the advise-abiity of running it at all.. ( Ask yourself, “why are there no other people running this part of the river?)
NEVER raft or canoe over a dam, diversion or weir unless there are others doing it that are obviously qualified to do it, and who are wiling to render aid in case of need. Dams, diversions and weirs are KILLERS.
Please, don’t drink and boat. You may need all of your faculties, strength and judgement immediately and without notice. Party after the boating, after you get home safely!
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The Lord was definately watching over that family when their canoe got caught in the canal gates. The new said the couple are “exprienced” with their canoe. My question is with the river running as high and fast as it is juist how experienced is that couple to take their 14 month ol baby for a canoe trip. As for this last apparent drowning I heard the guy wasn’t wearing a lafe preserver and he was wearing cowboy boots…kinda makes it hard to swim if ya have to. I don’t think the river cares just how experienced people are its going to prove that it plays by its own rules. I think the county/city officials should pass an ordinace that everyone on the river wear life preservers, if people can’t take care of themselves then they need someone to do it for them. I’m sure those divers, firefighters and police officers who risk their own lives to pull people out of danger or recover the victims would agree. A HUGE KUDO”s to the Central Fire District Guy that went in the river after the little girls and started cpr and continued until IFFD Paramedics and AIR1 took over…he made the difference.