Make an informed choice when visiting a public beach this summer: Nesathurai

People looking to enjoy Chatham-Kent's public beaches should ask some questions before wading in the water.

Article content People looking to enjoy Chatham-Kent’s public beaches should ask some questions before wading in the water. Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, the municipality’s medical officer of health, gave a presentation at Monday’s board of health meeting, where he said the monthly testing of beach water only provides a snapshot of the time when the water samples were collected. Recommended Videos The public health unit sends the samples in for testing for a bacteria called E. coli, but other bacteria and parasites can also cause health issues.

“These are organisms that can make people sick,” Nesathurai said. “They can give you nausea, vomiting (or) fever. In rare cases, people can be hospitalized and sometimes people do die.”

First look for advisory or closure signs at beaches before swimming, but there are other questions to consider if the beaches are open, Nesathurai said. “I think every person has to make an assessment of the weather now and the weather in the past day,” he said. “Was there a heavy rainstorm?

Were there high winds? Those all increase the risk of (the presence of) microorganisms.” Beachgoers should also consider the smell of the beach, how many birds are present, whether the birds are dead or alive, if there are lots of dead fish and if the water is murky or turbid, Nesathurai said.

“You can check the turbidity of the water by wading into the water about waist-high and looking down. If you can’t see your feet, probably the water is too turbid,” he said. Algae is another factor to consider.

Nesathurai said to check for water discolouration or what looks like soap scum. He said even with precautions, illnesses can still occur. Anyone who has a health concern should inform their doctor or nurse practitioner they visited a beach to “help them formulate their treatment plan,” he said.

The last beach water testing was conducted June 22. Of the seven public beaches assessed, only Getty’s Beach had high levels of bacteria. Future results will be available at www.ckphu.com/beaches.

“People sometimes assume a beach is safe because a recent test showed acceptable results,” Nesathurai said in a news release sent after the meeting. “The reality is that conditions can change rapidly. Beach water testing is helpful, but your own observations of current conditions are often the most important factor in deciding whether to swim.”

Joshua Standel, manager of environmental health, said inspectors take samples at each beach. At Erieau, samples were collected at eight points, he said. “The reason that we sample monthly and don’t do it more frequently is it takes us 48 hours just to get those results back,” he said.

“As much as we’d like to provide the community with a real-world, real-time snapshot, it’s not possible, unfortunately.” At the board of health meeting, Nesathurai said his message of making an “informed choice” when visiting the beach should apply to most human activities. “Hospitals, doctors, clinicians, nurse practitioners, they can all work toward advancing the health of an individual person or family,” he said.

“But ultimately, it’s through the community member to make the best decision about the risk of doing any activity for themselves and for their family.”