Boating safety course offered through Affinity
National Safe Boating Week is May 17- 23
05 / 02 / 2008
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Maria Nelson, Media Relations
Affinity Health System
(920) 720-1752
(920) 554-0686 (pager)
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
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 faith-based regional health care network, is the Fox Valley’s second-largest employer, according to the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry. For the fourth consecutive year, Affinity has been named one of the nation’s top 64 health systems based on clinical performance according to Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of health care. For ten consecutive years, Affinity Health System has been named to the SDI (formerly Verispan) Integrated Health Network Top 100, an annual assessment of the 100 most highly integrated health care networks in the nation. Both St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh rank among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide in terms of quality and efficiency, as determined by the 2007 Premier | CareScience Select practice National Quality Award. Members of Affinity include Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Health Foundation, Oshkosh; St. Elizabeth Hospital and the St. Elizabeth Hospital Foundation, Appleton; Affinity Medical Group, a regional network of 25 family practice and specialty clinics – 22 of which are recognized as NCQA Level III medical homes, the highest level of recognition – in 14 communities; Calumet Medical Center, Chilton; and Affinity Occupational Health.