fighting the rip current — is a focus of the 

 educational efforts. Most trouble spots are less 

 than 30 feet wide. 



In 2001, North Carolina offices of the 

 National Weather Service (NWS) began 

 offering daily forecasts for rip current potential, a 

 service patterned after a forecast scale developed 

 in Florida through the work of NWS. local 

 lifeguards and university researchers. 



"If there is a rip current, our lifeguards 

 need to know where it is," says Yeatts. "When 

 the surf is the biggest on red flag days, our 

 people are out there training." 



Along the Kitty Hawk beach, a sandbar 

 stretches the entire length of the beach and has 

 fixed rip currents, according to Yeatts. 



"We give nonstop education about rip 

 currents," he says of lifeguard chats with 

 beachgoers. "We do it every day and all day 

 long. Education is the best method of rescues." 



Yeatts says the biggest rip that he has seen 

 was in 1996 when the current spread 150 feet wide. 



The second highest cause of ocean rescue 

 accidents is rough surf, according to the 

 lifesaving association. 



Yeatts says that he sees a lot of spinal 

 injuries from playing in shallow water or inshore 

 breaks. "You shouldn't body surf or surf in 

 inshore breaks," he adds. 



Drownings also can occur on calm days 

 when a "west wind is blowing, and the ocean 

 looks like a lake," says Yeatts. 



"Everybody gets a false sense of security, 

 and they fail to realize that a west wind can 

 blow them out to sea," he says. "I have had to 

 rescue people who were on rafts and could not 

 get back in." 



MEDICAL EMERGENCY 

 RESPONSES 



Ocean rescue staffs also respond to a lot of 

 medical emergencies — from cardiac arrest to 

 heat exhaustion. 



Jet skis and buoys have become standard 

 rescue equipment along the Outer Banks. Ocean 

 rescue services also use trucks equipped with gas 

 supplies, backboards, marking floats, a global 

 position system and other devices. 



"Kitty Hawk Ocean Rescue just developed 

 a rescue board for standup jet skis," says Yeatts. 

 "The jet ski is a great piece of rescue equip- 

 ment." 



For rescues farther out, 

 or to search for bodies, the 

 Coast Guard assists by 

 bringing a boat, airplane or 

 helicopter. 



"The helicopter is used 

 for 600 miles out," says 

 Hoover. "We have flown all 

 the way from Elizabeth City 

 to Bermuda." 



In 2002, the Coast 

 Guard made between 400 

 and 500 rescue calls along 

 the Outer Banks, according 

 to Hoover. 



Aviation survival 

 training is provided at the 

 Coast Guard station in 

 Elizabeth City. 



"The wait to get in 

 rescue training at Elizabeth City is about 24 

 months," says Hoover. "The average individual 

 is in the Coast Guard three to four years before 

 getting in rescue training." 



To start rescue training, Coast Guard 

 technicians are sent to an air station where they 

 learn everything from driving a fuel truck to how 

 to approach an aircraft. 



After that, they spend 17 weeks at the 

 Aviation Survival Technical Training Center in 

 Elizabeth City. 



In the first phase of the training, the 

 technicians learn basic lifesaving techniques, 

 including underwater training. 



"We teach students to save themselves," 

 says Senior Chief Brad Torrens. "It is like 

 underwater judo. If you were in the water and 

 someone comes from behind and grabs your 

 head, you have to use pressure points, leverage 

 with arms and brute force to take control of the 

 survivor." 



The technicians also undergo a lot of 

 physical fitness training, including towing each 

 other while outfitted in a mask, fin, snorkel and 

 rescue harness. In addition, they run and do 

 push-ups and chin-ups. 



In the second phase, they actually practice 

 rescue attempts, including placing victims in 

 rescue baskets. 



For the last phase, the Coast Guard rescuers 

 learn how to disentangle a victim from a 

 parachute and about other multi-rescue scenarios. 



A Coast Guard helicopter drops a stainless steel basket into the 

 water and lifts a man to safety. 



"In one drill, they have to rescue six people 

 one after the other in 30 minutes," says Torrens. 

 "All the drills are derived from actual search and 

 rescue efforts by the Coast Guard Helicopter 

 Rescue Swimmers. The school is one of the 

 most physically challenging schools in the 

 military." 



EARLY LIFESAVING 

 SERVICES 



Lifesaving efforts began in the U.S. in the 

 early 1700s when dories were launched from 

 shore to save victims of shipwrecks. 



During the late 1800s, the U.S. Lifesaving 

 Service built seven stations along the Outer 

 Banks. All told, 29 stations were built along the 

 North Carolina coast, including the Pea Island 

 station on the northern Outer Banks — which 

 had the only all African- American crew. 



Like other emergency responders, the 

 lifesavers worked long hours, with daily drills 

 and foot patrols throughout the night. However, 

 when someone cried "ship ashore," the boredom 

 ended. The rescuers used breeches buoys and 

 lifeboats to bring the crew and passengers to 

 shore. Throughout the U.S., the lifesavers saved 

 more than 178,000 people from 1878 to 1914. 



Later, the Lifesaving Service became the 

 modem day Coast Guard, while a new type of 

 lifeguard emerged along the beaches. 



Unlike the pool environments — which are 

 virtually identical — open water beaches and 



14 SPRING 2003 



