Always swim by a lifeguard, always swim by a lifeguard, always swim by a lifeguard
OCEAN CITY — Nine people were pulled from the chilly ocean waters Saturday morning in a rescue operation that showed off how well Ocean City’s Beach Patrol, Police Department and Fire Department work together.
The rescue took place at one of the worst times — when the beaches were unguarded — but the timing turned out to be fortuitous because the lifeguards were mustering for roll call just before 9:30 a.m. when the 911 call was placed.
Four people were on the rocks at Ninth Street when they slipped into the water. Five people who tried to help them also ended up in trouble. All were saved, with only minor injuries reported.
“We open the beaches at 10 but we have roll call on the weekends at 9:30. Our guys were just getting to roll call when the 911 call came in, so we sent a flotilla of people down there,”
OCBP Director of Operations J. Allan Karas, M.A., said Monday morning.
“It was actually the perfect time,” he said. “Ten minutes earlier and we probably wouldn’t have gotten as good of a response from our side of it. The cops were just getting there and they were deferring to us to go into the water.”
The OCBP had about 12 guards go into the water and a jet ski responded from First Street. The police department sent its drone up and the fire department showed up with its water rescue unit.
“I think what was great is they showed up because it was before (guarded beach) hours,” Karas said about the police. “They know it was before hours for us so they had eyes on, but just as quickly we were responding. The Fire Department knew we weren’t guarding yet so they sent their water rescue team.
“It was the perfect example of how everybody works together on this island,” Karas said.
Ocean City’s beaches are guarded from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends. Warnings are ever-present telling people to always swim when lifeguards are working because of the dangers of the ocean, something heightened when there are rip currents.
Karas said the initial call was three people in the water, but it turned out there were four people in trouble. He said “a bunch of good samaritans … jumped in the water to try to help them.
“It’s our most challenging spot, so the five people trying to help out got in trouble too,” he said. “By the time we got there, there were nine people in trouble so all the guards went out to try to get people floating. We had a jet ski respond from First Street. We got a few people on the jet ski and the rest of the people were brought in by the guards.”
The call came in at 9:29 a.m. and within 12 to 13 minutes the people were back on shore.
“That’s how quickly it happened,” he said.
Two people were treated by the beach patrol EMTs and released for “some cuts and scrapes and a few of our guys had some cuts and scrapes from the rocks. Nothing major. Bumps and bruises.”
“At Ninth Street it’s always a problem area for us,” Karas noted. He explained that many of the visitors coming to town head to the beach there.
“Eighth and Ninth streets are where the parking lots are and that is our most challenging water and that’s the place where people swim without lifeguards the most,” he said.
The beach mantra for safety is “Don’t swim when no guards are present.”
“I would say that three times in a row,” Karas said. “I spent my early years, 14-15 years as a lifeguard, I run a beach patrol, and I swim in front of a lifeguard. My guys are paid to watch you swim. We preach that everywhere. There are signs, it’s on every piece of literature we put out. It’s on our website. Don’t swim without a lifeguard present.”
The OCBP director said the lifeguards were “busy up and down the whole island on Saturday. We probably had around 30-35 rescues. That is a lot because the water was so cold,” he explained, because of an upwelling bringing chilly water from below to the surface. “It seemed like everybody who was going in the water we were pulling out.”
The National Weather Service had put out a strong rip current alert for that morning. He said rip currents always exist, but there were strong weather conditions Saturday.
There was a major change by Sunday.
“We did not have a rescue yesterday. That’s unheard of on a weekend,” Karas said Monday.
In addition to the water being cold, he said the ocean was “particularly flat and the tides were in our favor. All the good things were in place.”
However, he noted, “I don’t think Poseidon will make it that easy for us all summer.”
Karas said he has a great working relationship with Ocean City Police Chief William Campbell, Fire Chief Bernie Walker and before him Fire Chief Jim Smith. (Walker took over for Smith, who retired, last week.)
“Especially with water rescues, we talk about that all the time. (Saturday’s rescue) was a great example of how it all should work,” Karas said.
The Police Department puts the summer officers through a water rescue program and the OCBP gives them a presentation on how it operates and what is expected. If it is off-hours for lifeguards, he said police officers will readily take off their belts and jump into the water with a flotation device.
On Saturday, he said, “Everybody was hauling ass to get down there. It was just great.”
“I think it’s just cool stuff. I love when that happens,” Karas said about the cooperation between the OCBP, police and fire departments. “I used to love that in my law enforcement world when agencies would combine in a good operation. It’s the way it’s supposed to happen.”
“Our guys are the best trained in my four years here,” he added about the OCBP. “We’ve got the best system in place and the city’s three departments work seamlessly. It’s great.”
– STORY by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff