WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — During the summer months, water-related tragedies happen far too often in central Iowa.
"No one plans for anything to go wrong on the water," said Kristen Frohnhoefer, president of the Board of Directors for the Sea Tow Foundation. "You know, we all plan to go out and have a great day on the water and make memories with our families, but it's no different, when you're in a car, you don't plan to get in an accident."
Unlike seatbelts, life jackets are not required by Iowa law while on a boat for people older than 13.
There must be a life jacket on board for everyone, but that doesn't mean the adults have to wear them.
The Sea Tow Foundation wants to protect people, so it's set up "loaner life jacket" sites at water hubs, just like this one at Saylorville Lake.
All patrons need to do is take the life jacket, borrow it for the day and put it back.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 83% of people who drowned in 2021 were not wearing a life jacket.
That's why its important to put on a life jacket as soon as you're on a boat.
"If you find yourself in the water, your lifejacket is floating downriver, downstream, or it is underneath the boat if its capsized, an adult is not going to be able to find the life jacket [and] put it on in an emergency situation," said Susan Stocker, boating law administrator for Iowa DNR.
As such, the DNR recommends that, just like a seatbelt, people put on a life jacket on no matter what.
"The life jackets are the seatbelt of the water," Stocker said. "And we strongly encourage people to wear them whether you're an adult, mom, dad, grandma, aunt [or] uncle."