Beach-Safety Tips: Don’t Let Your Guard Down

Some things never grow old, like vintage wine, family ties and the importance of beach-safety tips.

The United States Lifesaving Association estimates that America’s beaches had a total attendance of 210 million last year. There were 90 drownings, of which 80 occurred in unguarded areas.

The odds are overwhelmingly against drowning in a guarded area, but the small percentage of trouble indicates the need to be vigilant. Helpful information comes from websites, national organizations, local beach-patrol captains and instincts. They are all significant and will enhance one’s summer enjoyment.

Choose a set of tips that apply to you, add your own and remember that they all matter.

Other areas besides safety are important. Here is an overview, broken into several areas, gleaned from various sources.

SAFETY

Swim near a lifeguard: This is the big No. 1, according to many captains and to Chris Brewster, a liaison for the USLA.

“People who find themselves in a scary situation, in which they think they are going to die, don’t have the time to process a series of moves they can make,” he says. “That’s why swimming in front of a guard, in my view, is the most important safety tip of them all. If you are in trouble, and a guard can see you, you can be rescued.”

Swimming near a guard shortens the distance needed for a potential rescue. It also keeps one in better position to understand verbal commands, whistles and hand signals.

Confer with lifeguards: Some rules may vary slightly from beach to beach. Familiarize yourself with what each colored flag means, determine how far out you are allowed to swim and what the varied whistle signals denote. A short conversation is an excellent investment in one’s safety. Think of the guards as coaches, not simply symbols of safety enforcement. They are loaded with information. Extract it.

Be your own lifeguard: This especially pertains to those with small children swimming in the ocean. Parents walking to the edge or the shallow water and communicating with young swimmers present direct, one-on-one supervision. Children recognize the adult’s voice and respond more quickly to that than anyone else. An adult’s eyes and ears monitoring his or her own child’s activity is an effective form of personal lifeguarding.

Play it safe: Don’t dive headfirst into any unknown water or toward the bottom of oncoming waves. Avoid standing with your back to the water. While bodysurfing, keep an arm out in front of you to protect your head and neck. And when in doubt, don’t go out!

Don’t fight the rip current: This item is responsible for about 80 percent of lifeguard intervention. Don’t panic. The rip currents don’t pull you under the water; they propel a swimmer into deeper water. They are narrow. Organizations advise to swim out of the current in the direction following the shoreline. Don’t try to swim directly back to shore. Remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly.

LOCAL CAPTAINS WEIGH IN

Area beach-patrol captains continually advise on important issues.

Avalon’s Murray Wolf considers swimming in front of a lifeguard the most practical tip. It minimizes one’s danger in the water and keeps a person in close proximity for help. Wolf is a strong advocate for people knowing what the flags and whistles represent.

Stone Harbor head Sandy Bosacco warns against the macho concept of swimming alone, particularly when guards aren’t on duty. Bosacco cautions his own beach patrol, composed of athletes with excellent coordination, against doing it. The situation is even more dangerous for others.

Sea Isle City Captain Renny Steele has always stressed reacting to lightning. Follow the 30/30 rule during an electric storm, he says. Leave the beach and seek safe shelter when the time from the sight of lightning to the sound of thunder (flash-to-bang count) is less than 30 seconds. Do not return to the beach until 30 minutes have passed after your last flash-to-bang count. If you are caught in an electrical storm and cannot find safe shelter, avoid being the highest object in the surrounding area.

Upper Township’s Bill Handley advises against swimming or loitering near the jetties, or groins. Among the problems, these formations present the threat of injury via turned ankle, falling on the surface or being cut badly. Handley asserts that beach-patrol tips can never be overstated. Repetition is good insurance, even if it saves one person from making a bad decision.