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Beach safety tips to help prevent drownings

Beach safety tips to help prevent drownings

CTV News22-07-2025
Toronto Watch
CTV's Pauline Chan spoke with Toronto officials and the Lifesaving Society of Toronto about beach safety and drowning prevention tips.
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Water advisories issued for Slave Lake, Alberta Beach
Water advisories issued for Slave Lake, Alberta Beach

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  • CTV News

Water advisories issued for Slave Lake, Alberta Beach

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has issued water advisories for two lakes ahead of the long weekend. Visitors to Lesser Slave Lake in north-central Alberta are advised to keep an eye out for blue-green algae. Exposure to blue-green algae can cause skin irritation, rash, sore throat, sore red eyes, swollen lips, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Blue-green algae can be fatal to pets. AHS recommends washing with tap water as soon as exposure occurs. Humans are also advised to limit consumption of whole fish and fish trimmings from the lake. Feeding whole fish or fish trimmings to pets can result in death. Fish filets from the lake are still safe for human consumption. Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, appears on the water's surface and can often look like scum, grass clippings, fuzz or globs. It can be blue-green, greenish-brown, brown or pinkish-red and often smells musty or grassy. Blue-green algae blooms lake water Blue-green algae is pictured in this photo from the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA). Waters of Lesser Slave Lake where algae blooms are not visible can still be used for recreational purposes even while the advisory is in place. Lesser Slave Lake is about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton. Alberta Beach is also under an advisory but for elevated levels of fecal bacteria in the water of the main beach area. AHS is advising the public not to swim or wade at the beach area, effective immediately. At current levels, gastrointestinal illness may result from ingestion of the water at Alberta Beach, said the health authority, adding there is also a possibility of contracting skin, ear and eye infections with water contact. The advisory will remain in effect until further notice while AHS Environmental Public Health officers continue to monitor the water at Alberta Beach. Alberta Beach is located about 70 kilometres west of Edmonton.

Toxic drug deaths in B.C. down in May, June, coroner says
Toxic drug deaths in B.C. down in May, June, coroner says

CBC

time6 minutes ago

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Toxic drug deaths in B.C. down in May, June, coroner says

Social Sharing The number of deaths due to toxic drugs fell to below 150 people per month for May and June in British Columbia, according to B.C.'s coroner, a downward trend from the same months last year. The B.C. Coroners Service says in its latest report that the province recorded 145 deaths in May compared with 181 for the same month last year. There were 147 overdose deaths in June, down from 185 the year before. The coroner says 69 per cent of the drug-toxicity deaths in 2025 are adult men between the ages of 30 and 59, and 78 per cent of all deaths this year have been men. The statistics show that the opioid fentanyl is the most common substance detected in those who died this year, followed by methamphetamine and cocaine. The report also says that the presence of carfentanil — an opioid considered to be 100 times more powerful than fentanyl — in toxic drug deaths is increasing compared to 2024. Nearly half of the deaths so far this year have happened in a private residence, while 20.5 per cent happened outside. Smoking continues to be the most common mode of consumption in toxic drug deaths, with 64 per cent of investigations indicating the person who died smoked their substances, the statement says The highest toxic drugs death rate this year is in the Northern Health region with 44 deaths per 100,000 people, and the cities with the highest tolls are Vancouver, Surrey and Greater Victoria. Occupations The B.C. Coroners Service and provincial government have also released the occupations of those who died from 2022 to 2024. The two most common job categories are trades and sales. More specifically, those employed in trades, transport and equipment operation account for 21 per cent of deaths on average, and people employed in the sales and service sector account for 10 per cent. However, in 55 per cent of toxic drug deaths over those three years, the individual's occupation was unknown. Trades are known to have higher-than-average rates of substance use, so much so that the Construction Foundation of B.C. is launching a new mental health initiative to address the struggles faced by people, often men, in that industry. John Oliffe, the Canada Research Chair in men's health promotion at University of British Columbia, has said long shifts and physically demanding work may contribute to recreational drug use and self-medicating with substances.

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