Comments on: 11 Drowned in 2008, Why Can’t We Get Lifeguards?

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 06:18:50 +0000

Why not cross train some county Fire fighters/EMTs and have them patrol the beaches. Give them a little extra money as an incentive. Or what about the PCB police department. They are driving around the beaches on 4 wheelers, how about cross training them to keep an extra eye on the swimmers. If the they don’t want to spend a ton of money on a lifeguard program, just enhance the current emergency services. I’m an EMT, a lifeguard (instructor), and a law enforcement officer; I would be more than willing to walk the beaches and act as any one of the three. Or all three at once if need be. There are many ways they could save money they just need to think outside the box. I’m sure many of our emergency services personnel would be willing to get the training and perform the job(s).

By: Lifelonglocal

Lifelonglocal — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:41:07 +0000

My first comment should have said 15, my 1 key stuck. Tried to change it, but couldn’t, sorry…

By: Lifelonglocal

Lifelonglocal — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:38:24 +0000

WOW! So then, according to what most of you are saying, it is our personal resposiblity to keep people from being stupid. Does that mean I can walk up to someone and take a cigarette out of their mouth, because it might kill them? Or take everyones keys away, because they might get into a car wreck? How ridiculous can you be? Ever go climb a mountain and have a guard posted on the mountain to help you in case you fall? NO! Even though I am not from an area where there are mountains, I still know (from common sense) that they are dangerous. There are signs at every public access saying BEWARE! RIP CURRENTS MAY BE PRESENT! What more can we do, walk down the beach and hand out pamphlets. What next? Mandatory classes on how to swim before you enter the gulf? Yet, I can’t enjoy a day out without hacking and coughing because someone is smoking in the area. i rally that we ban cigarettes because not only are they dangerous to the smoker, they are dangerous to everyone around them. That is like a weak swimmer taking a group of people into the ocean on a bad weather day. What is the city going to do about that? Nothing! So why should we have to hold the hands of the people who don’t have enough sense to look before they cross the street or to stay out of rough water? I have lived here my whole life and never heard of anyone drowning on a good weather day. I do not feel responsible when some idiot gets to drunk to walk then goes for a swim in the gulf. We can not police everything that people do. Even on a good day, car accidents happen, people get hit walking down the road, someone shoots someone else, someone over doses on drugs…. Should I feel responsible for this to? Absolutely not! There are many, many other things in this community that need attention, hiring babysitters for irresponsible people on the beach is not one of them! Wait, we have so few drownings a year now, you can pay me to go sit on the beach and get a tan and watch people. I do it all the time anyways. Never seen someone drown in my 26 years on our beaches, you can pay me to do nothing 99% of the time!

By: Lifelonglocal

Lifelonglocal — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:36:54 +0000

WOW! So then, according to what most of you are saying, it is our personal resposiblity to keep people from being stupid. Does that mean I can walk up to someone and take a cigarette out of their mouth, because it might kill them? Or take everyones keys away, because they might get into a car wreck? How ridiculous can you be? Ever go climb a mountain and have a guard posted on the mountain to help you in case you fall? NO! Even though I am not from an area where there are mountains, I still know (from common sense) that they are dangerous. There are signs at every public access saying BEWARE! RIP CURRENTS MAY BE PRESENT! What more can we do, walk down the beach and hand out pamphlets. What next? Mandatory classes on how to swim before you enter the gulf? Yet, I can’t enjoy a day out without hacking and coughing because someone is smoking in the area. i rally that we ban cigarettes because not only are they dangerous to the smoker, they are dangerous to everyone around them. That is like a weak swimmer taking a group of people into the ocean on a bad weather day. What is the city going to do about that? Nothing! So why should we have to hold the hands of the people who don’t have enough sense to look before they cross the street or to stay out of rough water? I have lived here my whole life and never heard of anyone drowning on a good weather day. I do not feel responsible when some idiot gets to drunk to walk then goes for a swim in the gulf. We can not police everything that people do. Even on a good day, car accidents happen, people get hit walking down the road, someone shoots someone else, someone over doses on drugs…. Should I feel responsible for this to? Absolutely not! There are many, many other things in this community that need attention, hiring babysitters for irresponsible people on the beach is not one of them! Wait, we have less than 5 drownings a year now, you can pay me to go sit on the beach and get a tan and watch people. I do it all the time anyways. Never seen someone drown in my 26 years on our beaches, you can pay me to do nothing 99% of the time!

By: Leanna

Leanna — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:04:10 +0000

Lifegards are neccessary for an area that promotes the beach. Visable lifegards also help prevent stupid behavior. And even locals can misjudge their swimming ability, even in green flag conditions.

By: lauren wilson

lauren wilson — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:31:42 +0000

i seriously think our tourism wont be hurt at all if we dont get life guards…. have you been to the actual beach lately… they aint scared of that water. now is it worth it and a nessicity , heck yes. thinking outside the box here, its great for our locals… no think of us to much. theres not one thing wrong that comes with life guards. but if we dont get them its not horrible either, and look theres so many beaches in hawaii and other vacation spots with no lifeguard on duty. that doesnt exactly stray people away. but im for it and i have life guard friends who are for it too so they won’t have to drive out to walton county for their job and sunshine

By: Jan Nelson

Jan Nelson — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:15:36 +0000

Jellen….we are not talking about perfection. Accidents will happen. The goal here is: prevention.

By: Jan Nelson

Jan Nelson — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:07:55 +0000

I agree with Ron, citizens should be responsible for what they carry and realize to that the farther one is off from the paved road….comes with hazards to be aware of. I believe that people should have the mindset of self reliance. In fact, I stand for less government and more personal freedom. However, the designated areas for beach swimming and the pattern of excessive (costly)rescues and drownings can’t be ignored. Since, they are preventable. Ron, I know you can’t believe it, but visitors are unaware of real surf dangers. Why? Because they don’t live around the surf. Hence..out-of-towners, tourist, vacationers..whatever. I experienced the same observation visiting the Atlantic Beach that you spoke about the Pacific. Both more turbulent than the Gulf. The difference is that they are not heavily populated by seasonal tourist. Know what I mean?

By: Jellen

Jellen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:46:39 +0000

Of course people feel bad for every drowning death. And for every traffic accident death. I would like to see lifeguards at one or two designated beaches in PCB. I would be willing to pay additional tax dollars for those services but my point still stands — lifeguards cannot be provided at every 100 feet of beach, the platitude “can’t never could” notwithstanding. Figure out how many lifeguards that would be per mile and then multiple it times the number of miles long that the PCB beach stretches, then multiple that times the cost for each lifeguard, including salary, benefits, management overhead, equipment costs, updated training costs, etc. I wish every victim could be saved but the flat out truth is that no matter how hard a community tries, people still circumvent the rules or don’t pay attention to warnings.

I think we should do what we can but no one should be fooled into thinking any beach, whether the Gulf of Mexico or an inland lake, can be made perfectly safe for every swimmer.

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:09:47 +0000

As a member or the off road and back country community, we have a term, “tread lightly”. If you pack it in, you pack it out. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a four wheel drive or hoofing it with a backpack in the desert or mountains. And I’m talking about miles, not a few yards from your room or vehicle. So the trash receptacle argument is, pardon the pun, rubbish.

I wish my first cousin had been told the driver that killed him was going to run that stop sign. Or maybe there should have been a cop directing traffic first hand.

I wish someone had told my dad smoking was going to kill him. Wait! Someone did, and he did it anyway.

We have personal responsibilities and we have to make ourselves aware of the hazards around us. I can’t believe there are young adults and parents that are clueless about the dangers of ocean surf. I recently returned from the Oregon Coast. I drove for many miles down 101 and several of them were on the beach and didn’t see a single lifeguard or lifeguard stand. And the Pacific is serious surf. I guess those folks up there are just smarter and more aware of their surroundings.