As a busy summer begins on the Outer Banks, beachgoers of Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) will once again look to the beacon of safety they have come to trust: Lifeguards. What they won’t see is the months of behind the scenes work that took place to make sure the beaches would not be without protection this summer.
Earlier this year when Outer Banks Group Superintendent Barclay Trimble announced the elimination of many programs, such as the removal of the First Flight Centennial Pavilion from the Wright Brothers National Memorial due to a lack of funds in the budget, we understood. When the lifeguard program was cut to “ensure that available funding was directed toward the highest priorities,” we were shocked.
The majority of us have grown up on the Outer Banks and have come to expect and find comfort in the presence of lifeguards. We often visit the beach without even noticing the lifeguards are there, yet feel a sense of safety as we proceed with our activities, never having to second-guess if we are in good hands.
The lifeguards have a serious job with many responsibilities. Serving beachgoers by educating, advising and protecting are among them. The lifeguards are responsible for having open communication with the visitors, while also updating them on beach conditions and staying alert for hazardous situations.
As locals, we know our way around the beaches and how to tell if there is a sandbar or a rip current. We know not to swim on red flag days and what to do about a jellyfish sting. What about tourists? Many visitors come to the beach without ever having seen an ocean. With no lifeguards, many will have no idea how to act in certain situations.
The $175,000-program supported 15 lifeguards – five for each beach, seven days a week. In the summer of 2013, lifeguards stayed busy with 2,531 visitor contacts. Of those, 79 required emergency medical services with two fatal drownings.
Areas not patrolled by CHNS lifeguards experience an average of four to six fatal drownings each year, according to the 2013 Cape Hatteras Lifeguard Operation Annual Report.
These numbers prove the importance of the CHNS lifeguards and why they are needed. Fatal drownings in the unprotected areas are more than double the lifeguarded areas. This foreshadows the potentially dangerous situations many people will face, especially inexperienced swimmers.
Providing lifeguards should rank as a top priority for the National Park Service (NPS). Lifeguards are worth every penny. Money should not be the determining factor when deciding whether or not to provide essential services to those who use these beaches. When lives are at stake, our government should make the protection of citizens its first order of business.
Shortly after the National Park Service announced cuts and word spread that beaches could be without lifeguards, Dare and Hyde County officials began pressing for a solution to the problem. Suddenly, the NPS found $85,000 to provide lifeguards for the three beaches from May 24 through Labor Day. The catch? This would only pay for lifeguards five days a week.
With less than a month before the Memorial Day weekend, Hyde County officials voted to provide the $10,000 needed to fund the other two days a week for the Ocracoke public beach access. And then on May 17, Barclay Trimble announced that lifeguards would be provided seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., thanks to an agreement with Hyde County and the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. I
“The National Park Service is pleased to be able to provide, along with local entities, this valuable service for the safety of our Seashore visitors. Family vacations are special times and we hope visitors will find a quiet, relaxing opportunity to enjoy the ocean and beach environment under the watchful eye of skilled and dedicated lifeguards,” stated Superintendent Trimble in the release.
We applaud the efforts of local officials to ensure the safety of visitors and locals alike and believe that the price of lifeguards is worth every penny spent. However, we find it unconscionable that the National Park Service would choose to cut lifeguards over educational programs. Sure, we think it’s important to teach our visitors about the parks and the wildlife found on our pristine islands. However, choosing education over the safety of people using our beaches shows an inability to prioritize federal spending.
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