Several recent drownings in the local area have county officials wondering what they can do to emphasize water safety at public parks.

The County Parks Advisory Board plans to educate residents through public service announcements on local radio stations about the dangers of swimming in local rivers. The board also will replace warning signs at the county parks with more severely worded signs in both English and Spanish.

“The more awareness we can raise, the better,” Park Maintenance Supervisor Ron Junker said at last night’s parks board meeting.

Six people have drowned in area rivers this summer, including one man swimming at Willow Grove County Park on July 28.

The board is recommending county commissioners allocate $4,000 to the Safe Kids Lower Columbia Organization to replace warning signs and provide life jacket kiosks at county parks. Funding for the life jacket kiosk improvements will be voted on by county commissioners on Thursday.

Willow Grove County Park would get four new loaner life jacket kiosks. Each kiosk would hold about a dozen vests and provide instructions in English and Spanish on how to properly put them on.

Safe Kids recently received 60 life jackets from the Paris White Foundation, which started after a two-year-old of the same name drowned in Moses Lake. Local fire stations also are accepting donations of life jackets.

The loaner program works on the honor system, trusting those who use the vests to return them. Due to budget cuts and a small summer staff, parks maintenance officials have not been able to check and restock the kiosks on a regular basis.

Funding is not the only obstacle to improving the kiosks. Tracey McDaniel, medical program director assistant for Cowlitz County, said Safe Kids needs volunteers to help construct the new kiosks. Parks maintenance staff will install the signs, Junker said.

Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue took over the Safe Kids program in 2004 after it was started by the County Health Department three years earlier.

Clarification:  The original version of this story failed to mention the names of other groups who contribute to the Safe Kids Lower Columbia loaner lifejacket program. They are: Cowlitz County Sheriffs, Cowlitz Emergency Medical Services Council, and other medical professionals in the local area. Also, the story neglected to point out that other lifejacket kiosks will be built in other county parks besides Willow Grove, though exact locations are still undetermined.