EDITORIAL: Life jackets at Greenway will help save lives

Published 10:01 am Friday, June 13, 2025

Local health care leaders, firefighters and first responders recently joined community partners at the Oconee River Greenway to save lives.

A new life jacket loaner station at the Greenway has been erected, providing life jackets for anyone who needs one while out enjoying the river.

Just borrow a life jacket and return it when you’re done. Simple as that.

According to statistics from the United States Coast Guard, the majority of drowning victims were not wearing a life jacket. In 2022, 75% of fatal boating accident victims died from drowning, and of those, 85% were not wearing a life jacket.

Just midway through the year, we’ve already witnessed tragedies on the lake and the river.

We need to all do what we can to prevent more deaths on the water.

Remember that the open waters are often unforgiving, even for the best and most experienced swimmers.

That’s why experts say wearing a life jacket should be routine, especially in deep waters, just like putting on a seat belt.

Some people say life jackets are uncomfortable or an inconvenience. But is a little discomfort worth risking your life?

Georgia law requires all boats must have at least one life jacket on board.

U.S. Coast Guard–approved and properly fitting personal flotation device, or life jacket, for each person on board. State law also requires all children younger than 13 to wear a life jacket while on board a boat. And even though adults and people 13 and over are not required to wear a life jacket, they should.

There’s little to no time to put one on in an emergency. Even experienced DNR game wardens, who are trained in high-stakes boat operations, wear life jackets every time they take to the water. We should too.

Thank you to Atrium Health Navicent Emergency Medical Services and Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin, the City of Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Baldwin County Fire Rescue, Milledgeville Police Department, Baldwin County Coroner’s Office, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Georgia Power Co. for coming together to provide this valuable resource for Greenway visitors.

The life jacket loaner station can help save lives and prevent more tragedies at the river.

Enjoy that lake and the river this summer but do it responsibly. Let’s make wearing a life jacket on the water the norm.

Please wear a life jacket while on the water. If you don’t have your own, take advantage of the life jacket stations.