Oh, absolutely! I would never get into any vessel without having a life jacket—won’t even let my dog on a boat without one, much less a cherished child. I just meant that the adults might well have had jackets, but could have died anyway from blows to the head. I live in a place where people die from being swept over and through the falls, and a park ranger told me at one time that a life jacket won’t help you if you go through; you die from being battered. The situation might be the same if one is swept over a dam.
But, according to the reports, the ‘adults’...the ‘experienced’ adults, weren’t experienced enough to take the most rudimentary of precausions while canoeing with small children.