Safety for life touted at lakes Mead, Mohave

"Wear it for life."

That's the message written on life jackets that some 200,000 visitors to Lake Mead National Recreation Area will see as they enter the park to enjoy Memorial Day weekend.

"It's not very comfortable when you're in the water but it will save your life, by golly," said Nevada Department of Wildlife Boat Education Coordinator Edwin Lyngar during a Thursday news conference to raise awareness about boating and swimming safety on lakes Mead and Mohave.

He was demonstrating a compact life jacket that inflates with the pull of a cord that triggers a carbon dioxide cartridge. The life jackets, he said, come in sizes and shapes that fit over someone's shoulders.

Because they're not bulky, boaters on personal watercraft are more likely to wear them. Conventional life jackets will work, too, but not so-called "floaties" or inflatable backyard pool toys that could be easily blown far from shore. High winds are expected to kick up today.

National Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey, who has dealt with grieving families of drowning victims over the years, offered some advice to Memorial Day weekend visitors: "Leave backyard-pool float toys at home."

"When the wind comes up they're like a giant kite. They give you a false sense of security," she said.

Dey recalled the scene a couple years ago when two children who were using backyard-pool float devices drowned at lakes Mead and Mohave.

"It's so preventable," she said. "It's heart-wrenching to talk to the families afterward."

Another problem with visitors who bring float toys to the lakes is that when they are blown away, adults will try to swim to retrieve them and endanger themselves.

"A $3 pool toy is not worth it," she said.

Last year, there were 29 fatalities in the park. Of those, 12 were drownings. In 2008, there were 19 fatalities including eight drownings.

Park visitors can expect winds of up to 25 mph or more as gusts gain momentum over open water. Two red pennants were posted Thursday on the road to Lake Mead's marinas, a warning to boaters that gale conditions with wind speeds reaching 54 mph are possible.

National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Faith Borden said, "If you're going to be out on the lake, be careful." She said today is expected to be more windy than Saturday, Sunday and Monday as the weather improves with less wind and temperatures in the upper 80s on Saturday and Sunday and low 90s on Monday.

Dey said more than 5,000 boats are expected to be out on lakes Mead and Mohave during the weekend.

She said boat operators should inspect all safety gear and equipment, including fire extinguishers, before launching.

And don't forget to install the drain plug before backing the boat into the water.

"People get really excited when they get to the lake. They get in a hurry and sometimes they forget it. It's like tunnel vision," she said.