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Boating safety course offered through Affinity

National Safe Boating Week is May 17- 23

05 / 02 / 2008

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MENASHA, Wis.- According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 70 million Americans will venture out on area waterways this year. Unfortunately, not everyone will make it back to shore alive. In 2006 more than 700 people died as a result of a boating related incident and more than 3,000 people needed medical treatment. 

As a way to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in the Fox Valley, Affinity Health System is offering a two-day boating safety course from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 10 and May 17 in the Helen G. Fowler Conference Center at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton. The course is open to any individual, and children age 12 and older are eligible to earn a boating safety graduate certificate. A registration fee of $10 covers the cost of education materials.

Instructors certified by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will cover rules of the water, equipment requirements, rules and regulations, ethics, responsibility and basic navigation.

Chris Ryden, a safety instructor with Affinity Health System, says taking part in safety courses benefits everyone. “Just a few hours of training can be the difference from an enjoyable day on the water or an unforeseen tragedy,” he says. “For the past four years, Affinity has strived to educate the community to make our waterways safer.”

Affinity’s boating safety course meets Wisconsin’s mandatory boating education requirement, which requires anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1989 and at least 16 years old to have a boating safety education certificate to operate a motorboat on Wisconsin’s waterways. Participants also receive instruction on how to be a safe passenger in a boat.

The course preludes National Boating Safety Week, May 17-23. The week encourages water enthusiast to review and use safety measures while enjoying the water.

“I understand that water activities are a way of life for some Wisconsinites,” says Ryden. “I want to give all water enthusiasts the tools and knowledge to keep it fun but, more importantly, safe.”

To register, individuals need to contact Affinity NurseDirect at (800) 362-9900.

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For the Editor:
Affinity Health System, a Catholic mission-oriented regional health care network, is a partnership of Ministry Health Care and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Affinity Health System is the Fox Valley’s third largest employer, according to the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and is ranked 24 among the top 100 integrated health care networks nationwide (Verispan 2008). Both St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh rank among the top 1 percent among hospitals nationwide in terms of quality and efficiency, as determined by the 2007 Premier | CareScience Select practice National Quality Award. Network Health Plan has achieved Excellent accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the highest possible level. It is ranked 37th among the 250 rated health plans in the nation in terms of customer satisfaction and clinical performance, according to the U.S. News and World Report/NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing. Members of Affinity include Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Health Foundation, Oshkosh; St. Elizabeth Hospital and the St. Elizabeth Hospital Community Foundation, Appleton; Affinity Medical Group, a regional network of 23 family practice and specialty clinics in 13 communities; Calumet Medical Center, Chilton; Network Health Plan, Menasha; and Affinity Occupational Health.