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Wave Watchers

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The Beach Patrol has been fortunate for many, many years to have great support from the community and county. We are so lucky that the hard work our guards do is recognized and appreciated and we recognize that that is something we continually need to strive to maintain. That’s a big part of why we have so many programs that tie to the community in which we are imbedded, such as the Jesse Tree/Beach Patrol Survivor Support Network, our Junior Lifeguard Program, being designated as a “Safe Place” for kids, our School Outreach Program, At Risk Kids Camps, and more. This year we are starting two new programs that we’re very, very excited about and I hope that many of you will participate in. These are the “Senior Seaside Strolls” (a topic for a later column), and our new “Wave Watcher Program”.

The Galveston Island Beach Patrol Wave Watcher Volunteer Program is a way for ordinary citizens to join our team. It’s a mini lifeguard academy for that is free of charge and that will serve as a force multiplier in our effort to prevent drowning deaths and aquatic accidents.

The Wave Watcher academy will run from March 27th-30th and will meet here at our headquarters from 8-12 each day. The first day will cover topics related to Beach Patrol history and operations, rip currents and general beach safety, “Code X” (witnessed drowning) procedures, victim recognition, and municipal ordinances related to the beach and water front. The second day will be dedicated to first aid and CPR specially tailored to the beach environment. The third will focus on tourist ambassador certification (CTA Training). Finally, on the fourth day, we’ll do a site by site visit of the “hot spots” for water safety and discuss in detail how our Wave Watchers can integrate into our operations.

Once through the academy Wave Watchers will be able to volunteer for various duties if they desire. They are able to help with our LCD (Lost Child Detail) on holidays, join us for special events and competitions, or assist with large scale emergencies. Most importantly they will form a cadre of informed beach goers who have “the eye”, so are able to spot trouble developing before it happens and notify us or other emergency service groups, so we are able to prevent the situation from escalating. This could happen in the course of their normal daily lives when they drive, walk, fish, surf, etc. along the beachfront. Or it could take place with a more organized activity. The level of commitment and involvement will be completely up to the graduates.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the crew contact Supervisor Dain Buck at dbuck@galvestonparkboard.org or 713-818-8347. The class will cap at 20 and will be first come first serve. There are no restrictions on who can participate and no physical requirement (like swimming, running, etc). Everyone is welcome.

I hope you will join us for a fun way to support a great cause!

Jesse Tree Support Network Fundraiser

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Scanning the searchers briefly, I then turned to see with relief that a tent had been erected and the family was seated comfortably drinking water and talking to a Jesse Tree councilor who had just arrived…

Thinking back over the past decade I have lost count of the times we’ve worked a drowning on one of our beaches along with our public safety partners and had family members of the victim sitting on the beach looking to us for some type of resolution. We’re good at our primary mission of prevention and also, at rescue and the operational side of a recovery effort. But we’re just not geared for, nor do we have the resources for providing counseling or religions support. Nor do we have the capacity to beat the bushes for hotels to offer free rooms for families that can’t cover the cost or donations of meals, clothing etc. Families in this situation at times also need someone to be a liaison to public safety groups, consulates and embassies, or a network of emotional and spiritual support in their home communities. That’s why I’ll always feel a tremendous gratitude to Ted Hanley and David Mitchell of the Jesse Tree for their willingness to take on this emotionally draining, but critical role at a time that is so needed for these families. The team that has joined them through the years is no less compassionate and willing to step forward and do something that makes a real difference. They have done so much for so many and been amazing ambassadors for the spirit of caring and support that permeates so many people here on our island. And now it’s time for us to help them to help more of our guests. Here is what they are sending out to as many as will hear it and act:

“Tragedy Strikes when we least expect it. For over a decade the Survivor Support Network has responded with consolation, compassionate care, and common sense to the families and friends of drowning victims on Galveston’s beaches. This dedicated team of volunteers meets their immediate needs, while guiding them to the necessary resources in the aftermath of the tragedy. The team also ministers to the needs of the Beach Patrol staff- many of whom risk their own lives to save others and significantly feel the impact of these events. Without this well-trained team, these incidents would simply not offer the dignity and compassion that a loving community can bring to a tragedy. Please support our effort to keep this team on alert as the summer season approaches. The Jesse Tree invites you to support this worthy work by attending a Valentine’s concert fundraising event.”

The event will be held on February 12th at 3pm. Vocalist David W. Mitchell and Pianist Hector Bisio are the entertainment. Tickets are limited and can be reserved by calling 409-762-2233 from 9-11am M-F or by e-mailing info@jessetree.net or visiting www.jessetree.net. The event will be held at the beautiful T-House 1619 Sealy, Galveston, Texas 77550.

Kayak Rescue

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The wind was blasting from the west. The sand pelted the lone figure as he dragged his kayak to the water’s edge at Sunny Beach. Wearing waders and a lifejacket, he paddled his kayak from shore into the frothy water.

It was about one o’clock in the afternoon last Sunday as the man’s wife watched him paddle out. She quickly lost sight of him as he attempted to paddle into 30 mile per hour wind and 2-3 foot chop. By three she was completely panicked as she gazed at the empty beach and seemingly empty water. Someone noticed her, asked what was wrong, and called 911.

Beach Patrol and other members of the Galveston Marine Response group responded quickly. Working together, they quickly mounted a search. Because the wind and waves were moving from west, they searched to the east. Nothing. But they found a bystander who had snapped a picture of the man in his kayak off the west end of the seawall as he man was blown out and to the east.

Supervisor Mary Stewart and Sergeant Kris Pompa worked with a couple of officers from the Galveston Police Department to check the area, re-interview the man’s wife in Spanish, and extend the search area all the way to the east end of the island. Still nothing.

As evening approached, they knew that they would be almost ineffective just shining lights out into the water. As each minute went by the chance of a rescue diminished. Mary called the Coast Guard and asked for a helicopter.

As light faded the helicopter ran search patterns while coordinating with the Galveston group who searched near shore. Everyone was starting to give up hope. The water was 62 and the air temperature was dropping which put the wind chill in the 50’s. Someone blown offshore wouldn’t stand much of a chance once their core temperature dropped. The farther offshore you go the bigger the waves and more likely they’d tip a kayak over. It’s a big ocean in the daytime, but at night it’s virtually impossible to find something so small. The rescuers searched into the night.

But our team made the right call when they requested the helicopter. The Coast Guard pilots are almost always very experienced. This one put himself in the right spot and, almost an hour after it was fully dark, his crew spotted the victim using a thermal imager, which detects differences in temperature.

They lowered a walkie-talkie down and the man called up that he was OK. They lifted him with a rescue basket and watched his kayak drift out rapidly. They let our crew know to meet them at the Galveston airport.

The man spent a full 6 hours lost at sea. This is one of the longest searches I remember that resulted in a successful recovery. This guy is alive because of how well the whole team worked together and because they didn’t give up. Kudos to the Galveston Marine Response, Coast Guard, and our crew!

Wave Watchers

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Saturday afternoon I got a phone call from my friend Mark Porretto. He told me there were two kids close to the rip current on the west side of the Pleasure Pier. He added that they weren’t in immediate danger, but that we should check on them. I immediately radioed our “on call” unit and they were on scene within a couple of minutes. The kids were removed from the water just as they got to the edge of a strong rip current next to the posts.

Mark and I grew upon the beach together. We both surfed. We both rode bikes up and down the seawall in Jr. High and High School. We both worked and spent all of our spare time on the beach and in the water. He has a good lifeguard eye and calls me periodically to let me know when he sees problems developing on the beach. Those calls through the years have resulted in many accidents prevented and, no doubt, several lives saved. When Mark calls I know he knows what he’s talking about and I make sure one of us responds quickly.

Mark isn’t the only one that makes these calls. I have a number of beach people that help by keeping an eye out when they drive down the seawall or visit the beach. And the lifeguards I work with each have their own network that does the same thing. Add all of the people without direct connection to one of our staff who call the Beach Patrol or the city dispatch non-emergency number to let us know when there is some kind of problem on the beach and you have a serious force multiplier. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of people out there who help us do the difficult job of keeping millions safe each year.

This year we will be formalizing this process with a new program called “Wave Watchers”. Designed by our very own year-round Supervisor Dain Buck, our goal is to essentially train volunteers to do the same thing that Mark Porretto does. We’ll teach them to identify rip currents and other hazards on the beach, recognize swimmers who are in distress, spot dangerous environmental conditions. They’ll also be trained in CPR, First Aid, and Beach Patrol operational procedures. If they wish they can volunteer on busy weekends to manage first aid and lost child stations and to keep an eye out along the entire beach front.

Keeping all 33 miles of beach safe is more than any one group can do. We are lucky to have partners in the other public safety groups on the island and in the community who help. It definitely takes a village.

Very soon we will be putting out information on how to join our team of Wave Watchers. If you or someone you know is interested, send your contact information to Supervisor Dain Buck at dbuck@galvestonparkboard.org and he’ll make sure you get program and registration information as soon as he makes it public.

Go Texas Beaches!

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Some exciting things to do with ocean safety are happening in Texas right now.

Galveston has had some type of lifeguard protection for recreational swimmers since just a few years after 1900. This isn’t the case for most of the Texas coast. For many years the beaches of South Padre Island didn’t have any type of lifeguard protection at all. Now there are two lifeguard services on South Padre Island, one for the city of South Padre Island and one for Cameron County. We helped them both get off the ground a few years ago, and they eventually joined and became certifying agencies for the United States Lifesaving Organization (USLA). The USLA is America’s nonprofit professional association of beach lifeguards and open water rescuers . The USLA works to reduce the incidence of death and injury in the aquatic environment through public education, national lifeguard standards, training programs, promotion of high levels of lifeguard readiness, and other means.

The Corpus Christi area is another story. Both the city of Corpus and that of Port Aransas have had some type of lifeguard organization for a number of years. Although they never had the structure, resources, and quality of the Galveston Beach Patrol, back in the early 90’s they were fairly well organized and we even had competitions and other types of interaction with them for a brief period. They’ve gone through several changes- some political and some related to resources, but overall seem to have declined over the past few years. That seems to be at an end. For a long time they have been using a Red Cross pool certification for their lifeguards. The formal training they’ve received does not prepare them for working the beach. It is also way below what the national standard is. Not only is this a liability for the cities, but is a disservice for the lifeguards and the people they protect. Making a rescue in the ocean is really dangerous even if you’re properly trained, equipped, and meet a high level of swimming and fitness requirement.

The Corpus group recently hired a new lifeguard chief who was one of the people we trained down in South Padre. He and his boss have applied for their agency to join USLA and plan on implementing training that meets the national standard that USLA sets this spring. They invited us down to teach a “train the trainers” course at the end of this month and were open to including the Port Aransas group in the course. The Port Aransas group is also applying to USLA and is planning the same. They may even have joint training courses for the two groups in the late spring.

The big picture is that now, as long as Texans choose a beach with lifeguards, they will get protection that meets the USLA national standard. USLA statistics show that your chance of drowning at a beach with USLA certified guards is 1 in 18 million. That’s a good deal for Texas.

Crabbing Trip Gone Wrong

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The late afternoon sun danced across the water of the East End Lagoon. A six year old boy was crabbing in the shallow pool on the side of the road. As he walked back and forth his family fished, hung out, and enjoyed the beautiful Saturday afternoon. An occasional car crossed the bridge above the pool, temporarily drowning out the sounds of birds, lapping water, and the light breeze caressing the marsh grasses.

A gently current caused by an outgoing tide flowed through the pool. The lagoon emptied slowly into the pool through a large pipe under the bridge and exited into the ship channel through a set of 5 smaller pipes. The boy wandered close to one of these smaller pipes.

All that water has to get through pipes only about 3 feet in diameter. Near the pipes the gentle current turned into a jet of unrelenting force. The boy was sucked in.

The boy’s mother screamed as she saw him pulled under the water and into the dark pipe.

Though water has a life of its own, it follows set rules. It shows neither malice nor mercy. It can have a tremendous effect on its environment. Where it leaves this particular pipe it scours out the sand bottom leaving an area that is deep and dangerous with strong currents. A number of people, many of them children, have lost their lives through the years at this exact spot.

The woman saw her son’s little body as it spat from the tunnel on the other side. With superhuman quickness she jumped in where the current flowed out and managed to swim over and grab him before he succumbed to the force of the water, like so many before him. She towed him around the source of the current to the rock wall. Pushing him to safety she slipped back onto the rocks, breaking her ankle and sustaining a number of cuts and abrasions. But she didn’t stop until he was safely on the ledge with other family members.

This is a story of heroism and more than a little bit of luck. We are so relieved for this family that they all returned home with only minor injuries and a story that will no doubt be told and retold for years to come. But it’s also a story of personal responsibility.

In a developed country like the USA, we are fortunate to have layers of protection, even to a certain extent in the natural environment. Because of the history of this area, the Beach Patrol maintains quite a number of safety signs warning of the dangers. We make frequent passes enforcing the rules that prevent swimming in the ship channel and in this pool. But with the resources we have and 33 miles of beach to protect we can’t be everywhere all the time. Nor can our public safety partners.

Guards and signs are critical, but you are the most important and effective layer of protection.

 

 

Night Swim 2016

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Most schools are still in session for one more week, so next weekend really marks the beginning of the full summer season. And it will start with a bang, since the 30th annual American Institute of Architects Sandcastle Competition will be held Saturday. This year we expect over 60 teams to compete for the coveted “Golden Bucket Award”. If you’re like me and hate crowds, the insider tip is to go down Sunday morning early. We have security Saturday night which allows for an additional day to view these works of art.

Last week over 70 lifeguards participated in the 28th annual “Night Swim” followed by a complimentary meal at the Float. Not only is it the final physical challenge for the lifeguard candidates, but the whole staff jumps in with them. We rotate the person who designs the course so it’s different each year. This year was the brainchild of Supervisor Lauren Hollaway, and she was especially cruel.

It started at 27th with a run to 17th and back. We then grabbed fins, swam from 27th around the Pleasure Pier to 24th, jumped off the groin and swam back around the Pleasure Pier against the current. From there a run to 37th, where we got on rescue boards and paddled to 27th. And it didn’t stop there. After running the groin we jumped off the rocks again and swam without fins around the Pleasure Pier to 24th and made a final run back to 27th. The 2 miles of swimming, 3 miles of running, and 1 mile of paddling were made even tougher by 4 foot surf, strong current, and some serious competition. All of our guards meet a really high swimming fitness requirement, but we have some that are amazing athletes. Few compare to the two that dominated the race. John Obrien is a lifetime swimmer, triathlete, and Cross Fit instructor. Joe Cerdas ran track, is a great surfer, and is the undisputed champion of stand up paddle (SUP) racing in Texas- he hasn’t lost a race in 4 years. Both compete regularly in Lifeguard Sport, which includes swimming, running, rescue board racing, and surf ski (like a long ocean kayak).

The two went head to head for an hour and twenty minutes. John led most of the way with his superior swimming ability, until Joe used his intimate knowledge of currents to get close to him on the paddle. Finally, at the very end of the final swim, Joe squeaked by for his second victory in a row. I was pleased at 50 years of age to pull off a 4th place.  Everyone was a champion and finished the course, with the final finishers coming in after 2 1/2 hours of torture.

The great thing about finishing an event like this is that, once they get through it, the guards know to the core of their being that they can physically and mentally handle way more than they ever imagined.

They will need that confidence for what lays ahead.

 

Fin Cut and Night Swim

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Last Tuesday evening a call came out that there was a shark bite at 42nd and sand with heavy bleeding, and unconscious person, and CPR in progress. Beach Patrol, EMS, Fire Department, and the Police Department were all dispatched to the scene.

When everyone got there they expected something pretty dramatic. The first call on the radio was the lifeguard truck, who called in that there was no CPR in progress and only minor bleeding. They added that the cut was from a fin. A surfboard fin.

It’s not abnormal for calls for service to come in as one thing and in actuality be something else. Usually the reality is much less severe than the call, but it can be the other way around. Other times our hardworking dispatchers field multiple calls about the same thing, and each has a completely different take on what they saw. First Responders all react assuming the worst case scenario but arrive ready to re-evaluate once they see with their own eyes.

In this particular case the “shark bite with CPR in progress” was a 4inch cut to the thigh of a 15 year old girl that was caused by the fin of her surfboard. We treat many surfboard fin cuts each year and rarely see a shark bite. But surfboard fin cuts can be severe. A fin that is connected to a big surfboard getting pushed around by a wave has a lot of force. It can slice to the bone easily, and at times can cut more than just fat and muscle. The good thing is its usually a fairly clean cut that can be sewn up easily. File the sharp edges of your fins down when you buy them to minimize the risk. Also, for beginners who are not yet aware of how to get away from their board when they fall, they make flexible fins that are way safer. We use them along with foam boards for our Junior Lifeguard Program.

Speaking of Junior Lifeguards we are accepting applications now. This year we have new partnerships in place in the form of “complimentary camps”. Martial Arts America, The Kitchen Chick, and Clay Cup Studios all offer camps that are compatible with the times of each age group of our Junior Guard Camp. So, for example if you have a 10 year old, they’d go to Junior Guards from 8-12 and then could go to one of the other camps in the afternoon. They’d be doing these fun, educational activities most of the day. Information on these complimentary camps is available on our website.

Next Wednesday around 5pm we’d like to invite you to 29th and Seawall for our annual “Night Swim” event. All of our lifeguard candidates will attempt their final physical challenge and will be joined by our veteran lifeguards. They’ll swim, paddle, climb, crawl, and suffer in unimaginable ways for your viewing pleasure. Come cheer us on and help us welcome our new recruits to the team!

Pygmy Sperm Whale

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Living as close to the ocean as we do we become very familiar with the flora and fauna that we see regularly. Things people come a great distance to enjoy can become commonplace if we don’t consciously strive to renew our appreciation. For some this is means merely making the time to slow down, make time, and be present. For others it means a continual learning process as we encounter new creatures and experience variations in the coastal environment.

I was personally pretty blown away last week when we got a call that a whale beached itself on the rocks at 50th street. What turned out to be a Pygmy Sperm Whale that was around 8 feet long was alive when it arrived but, unfortunately, died shortly afterwards. We were able to tie a rope around its tail and pull it off of the rocks and drag it through the water to a beach with sand on it so it could be loaded up and disposed of in a more remote area of the beach. That wasn’t too out of the norm, as we deal with bottle nosed dolphins often. And a Cetacean beaching itself makes perfect sense. After all, what air breathing mammal wants to run the risk of drowning? But the wild thing was that it’s a really pretty rare occurrence to have a whale wash up at all and I’ve never seen a Pygmy Sperm Whale in person before.

I was really surprised to see its tiny little mouth on such a big head. One of the women that we were working with from the Marine Mammal Stranding Network told me that it feeds by suction! I thought about it all day, and that night combed the internet for more information. Turns out the mouth was only one weird thing about it.

I was in the Galapagos Islands once and saw crabs that live in trees and seagulls that have infrared vision and hunt at night. I know that the environment can cause all kinds of variation, but this little guy is pretty amazing even by Darwinian standards.

The Pygmy Sperm whale can dive for up to 45 minutes and uses echolocation to find its prey, which consists to a large degree of deep water squid. Sounds like it sucks the squid up into its little mouth like a scuba diving slurp gun. It also  can navigate by sensing magnetic fields, sort of like an inner compass.

But here’s the really cool thing. According to Wikipedia, “Pygmy sperm whales and dwarf sperm whales are unique among cetaceans in using a form of “ink” to evade predation in a manner similar to squid. Both species have a sac in the lower portion of their intestinal tract that contains up to 12 L of dark reddish brown fluid, which can be ejected to confuse or discourage potential predators”. So it uses the same technique its primary food source uses to avoid predators. In this case typically sharks or killer whales.

Mass Rescue

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The report of the incident starts out, “15:04 Unit 290,Supervisor Buck & Stewart, dispatched by headquarters for swimmers out to far at TWR 25.  Unit 290 rolls from 28 and sand.

15:05 Unit 290 gets on location.  From the beach we can see 5 swimmers about 50 yards off shore  …  My partner, Supervisor Stewart immediately heads into the water to check the swimmers…”

As most of you are probably aware, the rescue of five people at 26th street a couple of weeks ago received quite a bit of media attention. Our full time Lifeguard Supervisor/EMT Mary Stewart was credited with these rescues. Mary is a fantastic lifeguard, wonderful employee, and deserves every bit of this attention. The scary thing is that she almost drowned during the process, as one of the two victims she was attempting to bring to shore panicked and climbed on top of her and pushed her under water, as she tried to simultaneously fight him off and keep a small child afloat.

Not to take anything away from Mary, but there was more to the story than most of the media outlets reported. Despite Mary continually praising her co-rescuers during interviews, the public story cut that part out.

Meanwhile the report tells a more complete picture:

“Once my partner gets to the swimmers I receive the “ok” signal and return to shore and my radio to relay the “ok” signal.  Immediately after radioing everything is ok I see my partner signal for help.  15:07 I radio HQ to send back up and that I will be in the water to assist.  294 begins to roll from 18th and wall.   The guard from TWR 25,Dornak,  had brought 3 swimmers closer to shore where I met them with the rescue board.  Dornak then headed back to Supervisor Stewart to assist with the two swimmers she was bringing to shore.

15:09 Unit 294, Supervisor Garcia & Sr. Guard Letnich, arrive on scene.  Myself and my three victims are now in waist deep water, I instruct Sr.  Guard Letnich to go see if Stewart or Dornak need any more assistance.  I take my three victims to Unit 294 with Supervisor Garcia to get further checked out.”

Obviously there is quite a bit more going on. Jared Dornak stabilized the situation, brought three victims to Supervisor Dain Buck, then helped Mary bring the two she was wrestling with to shore, which may have saved her life. Dain watched everyone’s safety while still effecting three rescues himself and making sure backup was on the way so we could keep the ratio of rescuers to victims at an acceptable level.

There are layers of protection built into our system, which makes a dangerous job less so because we can provide all our guards with quick backup. These layers are there because we are provided enough resources to do lifesaving the right way. This event demonstrates clearly that we would have lost at least a couple of lives if this were not the case. And that we have many heroes in our ranks.