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THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014THE CURRENTFrom drowningto bee strings,lifeguard work is anything but a day at the beach.BY LAYLAN CONNELLY STAFF WRITERJessi Deston scans the water south of the Huntington Beach Pier, where she sees a man ditch his bodyboard and try to swim back to shore.But the guy is stuck in a rip current and Destonreads a look of panic on hisface.So the sun-kissed blonde from Long Beach grabs the red flotation buoy hanging from her tower, jumps to the sand and sprints into 65-degree ocean. There, she tosses her buoy to the struggling man and helps him get back to the beach. Moments later, Deston isback on the tower, her red bathing suit dripping wet and a jacket wrapped around her to stop the wind chill. But even before she’s dry she’s back at it, scanning the waters - right toleft; over and over - looking for people to help.And this, for lifeguard Deston, is a slow day.On July 6, Newport Beach lifeguard Ben Carlson drowned while saving a swimmer’s life. Though Carlson was the first knownon-dutv fatality for a life-w wguard in the nation in several decades, his death put a spotlight on just how difficult and dangerous a job in lifeguarding can be. Trained to watch with akeen knowledge of theocean’s power, and to jump into action at the slightest sign of danger, lifeguards in Los Angeles and Orangecounties - considered theMINDY SCHAUER, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERHuntington Beach lifeguard Sienna Brown warns swimmers of a rip current, a preventative measure.Busy beachesHuntington Beach lifeguards averaged a little more than 11 rescues a day for 2013.Beach attendance in millionsHuntington Beach City BeachRescues4,152was growing at the time -surfing. Many early rescues were made by earlv surfers,water legends such as George Freeth, a Hawaiian who came to Southern California to put on public surfing exhibitions. In 1925, a Freeth disciple, famed Hawaiian surfer and Olympicswimmer Duke Kahanamo-ku, jumped into action when a storm caused a fishing boat to capsize off Newport Beach.As early as 1910, FreethWwas hired to watch over swimmers in RedondoBeach, using big woodensurf boards to save people who found trouble in the water, according to BuddyBohn, a longtime Los An- source: usiamgeles County lifeguard.By the 1920s, lifeguards were being hired in Los An- over, and puked saltwater difference. It’s physicallySan Clemente City Beach3,4003,026702STAFF GRAPHICcountry’s busiest beaches - geles County. And by the into the sand. During his demanding.deal with everything fromheat stroke and stingray injuries to drunks on the beach and lost children.“The people who come to the beach have no idea the dangers of it,” said Rob Pel-1930s, lifeguards were hired second swim he got stuck inat beaches throughout Or- a strong rip and had to be ange County.A century ago, beach safety revolved around swim lines (ropes attached to shore that waders couldrescued by a lifeguard.“I thought I was in goodshape,” Butler said.Until the 1970s, the jobwas almost exclusively forWmen. And even when Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Mike Beuerlein start-The requirement for life- ed, in 1982, the staff includ-guards to be physically fit ed just two female guards.key, a 46-year-old Los An- grab while in the water) and doesn’t end when they get a These days, about a quartergeles County lifeguard who started as a San Clemente guard at 16.“When they do get in danger, we have the skills to help them so they can go home.CENTURY OF LIFESAVINGdory boats to haul people to safety. Swimming rescues were unheard of.But these days swimming rescues are key Lifeguards have to be better-job or the seasonal guardfinish training. Lifeguards have to be in shape throughout their careers, able to jump into action at a moment’s notice and carrvof the tower guards at Huntington City Beach arewomen.Sara Kennedy, 30, a state in San Clemente,savs she has to work hardthan-good swimmers. And the weight of another adult every day to show that shejoining the ranks as one of Southern California’s sum-In the early 1900s, the mer seasonal lifeguards is abeach was a place where ph sioally competitive, cut-people kept horses or wagons or campers. But with the earlv twentieth cent un-throat process.At trvouts earlier this year in Huntington Beach,out of a rough ocean and on to dry sand. Doing this 25 or 30 times in a single day isn’t unheard of.4*0belongs.“There’s not a lot ofthey are getting into.“If you think this is a job you can sit back, listen to music and get a sun tan, you've come to the wrong place,” he tells the newbies.“You are going to work hard.”About n million people a year hit the sands in Hun-Wtington Beach. To watch them, the city employs 13 full-time and 152 seasonal lifeguards, who work about 4.5 miles of beach, including recently acquired Sunset Beach. Villalobos said the total region is the most crowded beach anywhere(Piin the world.When surf is big. Huntington guards - many of them seasonal workers still in high school or college -might save hundreds of lives in a single day.Villalobos weaves his redtruck around beachgoers sunbathing and tossing around footballs, pulling up to the waterline, where people are happily splashing around in the balmv ocean.Tp-He points to a patch of water near the shore that’s turned brown and choppy,“All these people are sitting in small little rips, he says. “This is what gives us the most amount of rescues.”It doesn’t matter that waves are lapping calmlySafety at the beach• Swim near a lifeguard• Never swim alone• Don’t fight the current• Never swim while intoxicated• Leash your surfboard orbodyboard• Don't float where you can't swim.• Protect your neck from spinal injuries - never dive headfirst into water, don’t stand with your back to thewaves, or jump from cliff, pier or jetty• In a wipeout, land as flat as possible with your hands out in front• Be careful around the barbecue or fire pits.Source:newportbeachca.govStaying safe in the sunLifeguards are at constant risk from the sun, a concern just in the last 15 years that has come to surface. Many towers now have shaded awnings, and lifeguards are vigilant about putting on sunscreen.The guards in Huntington Beach get free screenings every year, Villalobos said. Tyler Wilson, a 21-year-old guard, already has had per-cancerous moles removed from his back. He makes sure to wear long-sleeve shirts to work.The John Wayne Foundation this year has put sunscreen in every tower along the California coastline to protect the guards.sumes it’s a slow time. If he sees guards perched up, readv to bounce into thewwater, danger might be lurking.And just as Villalobos reads cues on the towers, the guards react to the cues they see in the water.A head low in the ocean might indicate a weak swimmer. A T-shirt worn in the water, or even pale skin, might indicate a person who doesn’t come to the beach often and, as such, somebody who might warrant more attention.The goal is to save a swimmer long before he or she is in danger.“I want them to make 1000 preventive actions, and no rescues,” Villalobos said.“If you make a rescue, I’ll come to your tow er and askW .you what happened. Rescues are near-death situa-women in the lifeguarding onto the sand; danger is tions. We don’t want thoseindustry,” she said. “(But) present.Swimming out through they can do everything therise of bath houses and nearLv 1U0 people showedamusement piers, people ui 10 Perform a,course that included swimming around the long pier and sprinting on the sand.the surf, pulling somebody in, is one of the most difficult acts in the public safetyMike Brou-guys canftbegan to see the bench as something more, a place for exercise and adventure.arena,sard, retired chief lifeguard in the state parks’ Orange (’oast District. “You do fiveSoon the need for life- Devon Butler, a fit 20-year- or six or seven rescues, andsavers, people who would watch this new breed ofold who had just got ten out of the Marine Corps, fig-you are at the edge of exhaustion.beachgoers, became ob- ured he’d ace the Ph'sioal “The ocean is a danger-vious.The first lifeguards came from another world thattests.He was wrong.ous place,” Brousard added. “The big thing is, theAfter his first swim, But- guys make the commitment ler exited the water, keeled to train. That makes a bigSAVES ON DRY LANDFirefighers have hoses. Policemen have guns. Lifeguards have ...Red floatation buovs.WAnd, when combined with skills and knowledge, the buoy is enough.Huntington Beach Marine Safety Officer Tony Villalobos, an instructor for incoming guards, makes sure rookies know whatVillalobos recalls a manwalking into the water, on avirtually waveless dav arjpu;£•*: . -7. TV^decade ago. only to disappear after stepping into a hole. Lifeguards were unable to save him.But Villalobos isn’t onlymwatching the swimmers, he's also watching the guards.He looks over to the life-On a typical day, lifeguards deal with a host of issues unrelated to water rescues.A woman recently approached first-year guard Cameron Adlawan to complain about a man throwing a fishing line and hook out to where kids were playingnearbv.Guards handle about 10 bee st ing calls a dav in Hun-guard towers and reads the tington Beach. And, once in body language he sees. If he a while, a pier jumper w illsees guards sitting on the _ledge, legs dangling, he as-SEE SAFE* PAGE 8
Newspaper Details
Newport Beach Current
Newport Beach, California, US
Thu, Jul 31, 2014
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Mike M.
USA 13 Apr 2022
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