ENID, OK - Around 4,000 people drown in the United States each year. Drowning rates are highest mainly for children under 5 years of age and persons 15-24 years of age. Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are male.
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Weekends at the lake are full of family fun. As you prepare for your next trip, we want to remind you of the importance of wearing personal floatation devices (PFD's). As we look back on drownings OHP Marine Enforcement Division has responded to in recent years we can't overlook the fact these should have been preventable. Below is a snapshot of each drowning and the circumstances. Please be safe and don’t let yourself, family member or friends be the victim of a drowning.
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Victim: 19 year old male
What Happened: Victim was trying to swim out to a jet ski and was unable to make it. Victim turned around and tried to return to shore, went under, and did not resurface.
Personal flotation device: None
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Victim: 24 year old male
What happened: Victim was swimming away from the shore approximately 150 feet from shore went under and never resurfaced.
Personal Flotation Devices: Not in use
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Victim: 17 year old male
What happened: Victim swam to a concrete water intake approximately 30 feet from shore and started swimming back to the shore when he went under and never resurfaced.
Personal Flotation Devices: Not in use
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Victim: 10 year old female
What happened: Victim was wading out in rapids when she slipped and went under the water and never resurfaced. Victim was recovered approximately 70 yards from where she went under.
Personal Flotation Devices: Not in Use
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Victim: 22 year old male
What happened: The victim swam out to the marker buoy and when he was returning to shore; he went under for unknown reasons and failed to resurface.
Personal Flotation Devices: Not in Use
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Victim: 18 month old female
What happened: 3 adults placed three kids, ages 9, 5, and 18 months on an inflatable raft and was swimming beside the raft. The adults swam out approximately 30 feet from the shore, and made a right turn to return to the shore. It was during this return to the shore it was noticed the victim was no longer on the raft and the attempt to locate the victim began.
Personal Flotation Devices: Not in use
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Victim: 69 year old male
What Happened: Victim 1 was anchored in a vessel, when the vessels anchor came loose. The victim entered into the water near the back of the boat to check the problem. He went under the water and did not re-surface.
Personal Flotation Device: Not in use
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Victim: 59 year old male
What happened: For unknown reason, the victim entered very swift water near a bridge. Victim went under and never resurfaced.
Personal Flotation Device: Not in use
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Victim: 26 year old male
What happened: Capsized boat with 3 occupants, 2 survived and 1 victim drown.
PFD: Not in use
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Victim: 4 year old
What Happened: Juvenile was in shallow swimming area floating on a raft. The wind caught onto the raft and took the raft and the juvenile out past the swimming area where the juvenile had jumped off of the raft and submerged under water and never resurfaced.
Personal Flotation Device: Not in use
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Victims: 60 year old male, 12 year old male
What Happened: Victim2 was swimming in 3 to 4 feet of water, slipped off of a drop off into 7 feet of water, submerged under water and resurfaced 1 time. Victim1 swam out to Victim2, both Victim1 and Victim2 went under and did not resurface.
Personal Flotation Device: Not in use by Victim1. Not in use by Victim2.
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Victim: 26 year old male
What Happened: Victim was swimming approx. 125 feet off the shoreline when, for unknown reason he went under water. Victim never resurfaced. Victim was recovered approx.. 120 feet off the shore.
Personal Flotation Device: Not in use
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Victim: 31 year old female
What Happened: Victim was swimming in the pond went under and never resurfaced.
Personal Floatation Device: not in use
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