Assumptions
The last weekend was a big one. Water and air in the 70’s and nice weather meant tons of people in the water. The entire island seemed pretty full, and the beaches were packed. Traffic was an issue on the seawall most of the weekend, making it hard for emergency response personnel to move around.
We had several “possible drowning” calls that fortunately resulted in everyone being OK. One of these was a pretty dramatic close call, two-person rescue by lifeguards. One of the victims ended up getting transported to the hospital to be checked out but appeared to be in pretty good shape. This was one of those rescues where seconds matter and the guards made contact just as the victims were going underwater. By the end of the weekend, we had 8 rescues, 5,000 preventative, several lost kids reunited, and a ton of enforcement actions under our belt. The lifeguards couldn’t have performed better.
Coming up we have some big beach events. Next weekend is the Adopt a Beach Cleanup, and the weekend afterwards may or may not have a big car club event. Plus, more and more people are visiting the beaches, particularly on the weekends. Will keep all of us on our toes!
I was saddened, as I’m sure many of you were, to hear about the tragedy that happened in Surfside where a father tried to save two children in a rip current and died in the effort. If you ever see someone in the water in distress, call for a guard if one is present or dial 911. Try to throw or extend a reaching object or floatation device without going in the water yourself. There are rescue boxes on each groin in Galveston. Many drownings happen in groups of 2 or more with would be rescuers dying in the attempt. We can’t stress strongly enough the importance of swimming near an appropriately certified ocean lifeguard whenever possible and following the other safety tips on our website www.galvestonislandbeachpatrol.com
Along with huge crowds of swimmers keeping us busy, we’ve also noticed that people seem to be more on edge than usual. Like the past crazy year with all the national drama, a pandemic, and everything else has left the entire population with a sort of societal PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). An amusing, but disturbing example happened the other day when we received a 911 call from a woman saying her husband and friend were drowning. A rescue truck was dispatched and ran into the water to find the two men were doing fine. They walked back in with the two, talking amicably, and then got back in their truck. A car drove by and yelled “Nice racist rescue @#$%^&*”! The woman and two men were African American. The people in the car (Subaru Outback) were white. My staff was talking about how quick people seem to be to make assumptions and to criticize. And how it seems to play out everywhere- even the beach!
