K-12 Personal Flotation Device Education Standard: Public Comment Period Now Open through December 5, 2024
NASBLA’s National Boating Standards Panel (BSP) is seeking your feedback on the new American National Standard candidate, the K-12 Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Education Standard. Currently, there is no uniform education standard that supports the state and federal requirements for children to wear PFDs. BSP established the K-12 Workgroup to develop a standard to serve as the foundation for curriculum developers to address this need.
The goal of this Standard is to educate a younger audience of boaters, an audience that will carry the lesson of safety throughout their lives on the water. PFD wear/use is a key safety behavior that can lead to the decrease in drowning related deaths; developing education tools designed specifically for the boating youth creates a path towards prevention.
The workgroup of subject matter experts has met diligently since 2022 and they continue to meet weekly to develop the supporting technical document. NASBLA and the BSP would like to thank each member of the workgroup for their tremendous efforts in bringing this first draft to life!
The draft K-12 Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Education Standard is available for public review through EZ-BSP. This is a 90-day comment period that closes on December 5, 2024. For more information on getting started with EZ-BSP, please see this
startup guide and/or reach out to the BSP staff contact (
kaci.christopher@nasbla.org).