A new Inflatables Safety Video, produced by the WSIA (Water Sports Industry Association), features important updates regarding safely using inflatables as a part of water sport activities such as tubing. The video speaks directly to consumers, putting the viewer in the driver’s seat and encourages everyone to enjoy a fun and safe day on the water.
The video was produced with help from The Emily Catherine Fedorko Foundation (ECFF), a family foundation that provides funding to spread education, advocacy and awareness of boating and water sport safety for adults and children. It was established after Emily’s death in 2014 in response to a tubing accident that might have been preventable. ECFF hopes to educate teens and adults about safe boating practices and help advocate for additional training, specifically for tubing and other water sport activities.
Fedorko, 16, was killed while being towed on a tube in Long Island Sound off Greenwich Point. A new Connecticut law which passed last year will make it illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to operate a boat towing a tuber or water skier and require any boat operator to complete a safety course on safe towing. “We did not want in any way to discourage or impede the ability of people to enjoy boating,” Emily’s father, Joe Fedorko, told the Greenwich Times, “Rather, we wanted to encourage having fun in the water with further safety requirements.”
Access the video here: www.wsia.net/inflatables-safety-video/.