Tybee Island Ocean Rescue: Advice to Stay Safe At The Beach

If the weather holds out, many of us will be enjoying barbeques, boating or the beach with their families and friends. 

I spent the afternoon on Tybee Island with Ocean Rescue lifeguards.  They are expecting a big crowd if mother nature is kind to us.  Of course, the more people heading to the beach, the more issues there will be.

On Memorial Day weekend last year, they had 4 water rescues, 6 assists, which means someone’s in danger of going under, 35 medical calls and 30 lost persons.

This year, they’re hoping to keep those numbers down, so here’s advice you need to pack in your beach bag.

Swimmers still hit the beach Friday afternoon despite the gray skies and rough waters

We cruise down the beach with Lt. Todd Horne of Tybee Island Ocean Rescue, talking about the dangers.

“Some of the rip currents out there where all the churning of the water is, where you could see all the bubbles, it’s actually, if we were to be out in the water, it’d take you out right now,“ Horne points out the areas affected by rip currents near 17th street.

Lifeguards say if you get stuck in a rip current.  Don’t panic.  What you want to do is swim parallel to the shore with you hands in the air so you can alert them that you’re in trouble.  Once you’re out of the rip, swim straight in to the beach.

Another danger here at the beach are these jetties.  They’re razor sharp and cause major cuts or lacerations.  Far beyond the jetty is the sandbar, which is covered by water right now, but when it’s exposed, many people walk out there and get stuck.

“Stay off the south end sand bar.  We’ve had dozens of rescues already this year from people stuck out on the sandbar,“ explains Horne.

And a drowning before the season started.

Lifeguards whistle at swimmers and wave them away from the pier.

Listen to the lifeguards; always swim near a guarded area and never swim alone.  But, that’s not all.

“If you’re parents of little children, keep an eye on the little kids.  we’ve got all the towers are numbered this year and that has eliminated a lot of the lost children, but we still are getting a few on the weekends,“ adds Horne.

The bigger, re-nourished beach combined with a holiday weekend, will make locating lost little ones more difficult.

Ocean Rescue officials tell me that they have a fully staffed group of lifeguards.  They’re stationed at the north and south end, but remember, between 3rd and 14th streets, there are no lifeguards.  Lifeguards will be on duty from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. all three days.

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