President’s Report Fall, 2003

Now that summer is officially over for some or most of us and we at last have a chance to once again settle down a bit and catch our breath, I would like to bring you, our membership, up to date with some of the events and projects that are occurring in the National Water Safety Congress. The Board of Directors held their annual fall Board meeting on October 7 and 8 in Panama City, Florida.

It was once again a spirited meeting with much activity discussed and planned for the upcoming 2004 water recreation season. I will briefly mention some of the highlights of the meeting and the proposed activities and direction the board wants to pursue for next year.

The Congress’ Education Committee is recommending the development of a “Cold Water Safety Training Program” as part of a post 2004 International Boating and Water Safety Summit. The program will be a hands on training course that will cover the basics of surviving a life threatening cold water experience. The course is intended for professionals and volunteers working in the field of boating and water safety education, enforcement and water and ice rescue. It will incorporate many of the techniques from the American Red Cross training courses.

An update to the National Water Safety Congress “Beach Safety Report” was also recommended by the Education Committee. The original document on beach safety was published by the Congress in the early 1980’s and while still technically sound and relevant, much has happened in the beach safety arena to warrant the Congress to pursue an update.

Reports were given by our Regional Vice-Presidents detailing activities that have been taking place in their respective areas of jurisdiction. Several of the activities were;

Two new Local Water Safety Councils were recently established in the States of Maine and Ohio. These are important developments because local councils continue to be one of the most important avenues we have of addressing water safety at the grass roots level. Local Councils function as our first line of defense in water safety.

New boater safety campaigns are presently under way for implementation in 2004 in the western states of Alaska, Oregon, and Idaho that are intended to enhance many of the existing safety guidelines and regulations currently in place in each state regarding boating safety.

A new membership campaign for 2004 is being developed by our Membership Committee with assistance from our Executive Director. The campaign is designed to increase our membership roles, and further develop the categories of member classification and distinction.

Our Summit Advisory Committee reported the 2004 International Boating and Water Safety Summit have most of the preliminary planning in place and expectations are it is shaping up to be another outstanding event. The program thus far will feature three general sessions, several on water activities, and five break-out track sessions over the three day period.

There will also be a separate track session on “Paddle Sports” similar to last year track, which will be sponsored by the American Canoe Association.

The 2004 Summit is scheduled for April 18-21 at the Bay Resort Village Marriott in Panama City, Florida. I will have more to report on the Summit in our winter Water Safety Journal, as well as here in the web pages when the final draft of the program is released.

These were just a few of the overall highlights from the Board Meeting.

I continue to be impressed by the dedication of the Board, and the efforts our Executive Director exhibit with regard to the National Water Safety Congress, and, boating and water safety issues in general. I believe the organization is on the cutting edge of some outstanding research and program development for the upcoming year.

We also have several other issues concerning water safety and program planning that I want to discuss with you after the first of the year, which will in my opinion, will enhance the Congress significantly.

Please be assured the current Board of Directors, and their committees along with the Executive Director are working very diligently to keep the Congress well in the fore front of emerging water safety issues and technologies as we approach the 2004 water recreation season.

Ron Riberich