SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Local Girl Scout and South Tahoe High School student Sadie Beall envisioned a campaign to educate the people about the dangers of cold water shock. Her dad Lucius, general manager of Tahoe Keys Boat Rentals, would share stories with Sadie about the people who die in Lake Tahoe and she wanted to do something about it.
“It’s so preventable, but nobody is listening,” Sadie said of cold water shock and the education that surrounds it annually at Lake Tahoe.
“In launching this campaign, my goal is to educate people about what cold water shock is, and how it can be avoided while still enjoying Lake Tahoe,” Sadie said of her campaign with a focus on wearing a life jacket at all times.
Several marinas and kayak and SUP rental operators in the Tahoe Basin have already agreed to help get the word out to their customers about the campaign. Her dad’s business already has the stickers on all of its water recreation rentals.
There are 17 different cold water shock messages in the campaign.
Sadie started the project in the middle of her sophomore year (she will be a senior in the fall) as her Girl Scout Gold Award project. She liked the Take Care Tahoe campaigns and their clever messaging with a serious topic addressed in humor and reached out to them.
“I thought they’d be perfect,” said Sadie of the Tahoe Fund liking her campaign idea. They supplied a team that put her thoughts into clever slogans.
Each of the stickers and campaign posters has a QR code on it that directs the public to a website for more information. There, viewers will find facts about cold water shock such as:
– Within 15 minutes in cold water, blood flow decreases to the extremities to preserve heat at the core. You will lose movement of your legs and arms and will be unable to stay afloat unless you are wearing a life vest.
– 55% of all open-water drownings occur within 10 feet of safe refuge.
– 66% of people who drown in cold water are regarded as strong swimmers.
Sadie is interning at Barton Hospital this summer and then is focusing on being a doctor as she heads to college next year.
To learn more about all of Sadie’s Take Care Tahoe messages and cold water shock, visit https://takecaretahoe.org/take-action/cold-water-shock/.