BELMAR — The summer season on the Jersey Shore annually draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to local beaches, many of whom underestimate the danger of the Atlantic Ocean. On Sunday, first responders in Belmar worked around the clock, responding to two emergency rescues after lifeguards went off duty for the day.
Thousands of patrons filled the beach throughout the day, keeping Belmar lifeguards on their toes. According to chief lifeguard Harry Harsin, lifeguards in Belmar had roughly 100 rescues total in what he described as “by far the busiest day of the year.”
For lifeguards, summer days on Belmar beach vary depending on several variables including water conditions, crowds and weather conditions, Harsin said, with Sunday molding into a perfect storm that kept guards busy throughout the day.
Action continued after lifeguards left their posts for the day, when emergency responders were dispatched to 10th Avenue beach at approximately 6:20 p.m. for multiple swimmers in distress. The rescue effort left one man in critical condition, Harsin said.
Christopher Yoda, weekend lifeguard and a first lieutenant on the after-hours emergency response team, was on the scene at 10th Avenue and recalled Sunday’s rescue.
“I was lucky enough to have a paddle board with me and was able to get out to the farthest victims that were in the most critical condition, and as a team we were able to get them all safely back to shore where first aid was administered,” Yoda recalled.
Harsin credited the working relationship that the beach patrol has with Belmar Emergency Medical Services and the police department, whose members were on scene following the water rescue assisting the patron in distress.
According to Harsin, the male victim was transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune in “unstable condition.”
The emergency rescue on 10th Avenue came just minutes after the Belmar Water Rescue Team and off-duty lifeguards responded to the first after-hours emergency at 14th Avenue.
Yoda told The Coast Star, “It was definitely a crazy situation to have 16 victims pulled out of the water in the span of five minutes on two different beaches, just 20 minutes after we cleared the water and told everybody not to go back in because lifeguards would not be on duty.”
At the end of busy and dangerous days like Sunday, Belmar lifeguards whistle all patrons out of the water before departing for the day, warning beachgoers to exercise extreme caution around the ocean for the remainder of the evening.
“We’re talking to thousands of people, we’re up and down the shoreline saying, ‘Lifeguards are off duty, there are bad rip currents, don’t swim without lifeguards on duty.’ People just don’t heed the warnings. They think they know the ocean,” Harsin said.
Across the Jersey Shore, towns differ in how they patrol waters after hours. In case of emergency, the Belmar Water Rescue Team, a group of local volunteers mostly made up of off-duty lifeguards, is dispatched back to the beach via a pager system.
According to Harsin, lifeguards were in and out of the water throughout the work day rescuing patrons who struggled in unpredictable water, while also treating heat-related injuries and other emergencies on the beach.
Harsin told The Coast Star on Monday, “We have the massive influx of people, more so than most; that’s why our numbers are higher. My guards gave 100% all day long. They did a great job, they never stopped, they never complained, they were on top of it. I couldn’t be more proud of the way they performed yesterday.”
With the influx of patrons on Sunday, Harsin said lifeguards along Belmar’s beaches practiced preventive measures, restricting bathing where rip currents and other hazards were the catalyst for numerous rescues. Even so, Harsin said lifeguards were busy from the start of the shift at 9 a.m. to the end of the shift at 6 p.m.
“It was a busy day from start to finish. All of our guards here in Belmar worked hard all day,” Harsin said. “That’s what we’re here to do.”
With thousands of patrons traveling to Belmar beaches each weekend, Harsin said the most important piece of advice he can offer beachgoers is, “Do not swim when lifeguards are not on duty.”
Extraordinarily large weekend crowds combined with rough water and hot temperatures created a fusion of both beach emergencies and water rescues for Belmar lifeguards on Sunday, something Harsin said his squad of lifeguards was ready for after a slower start to the summer.
“The ocean is too unpredictable, the tides, the sandbars, the rip currents. If you’re not familiar with it, even if you are a good swimmer and you’re caught in a rip current, you’re going to be in trouble,” Harsin said.
Following a day full of action for lifeguards, Harsin said officers from the Belmar Police Department were on the scene after lifeguards left for the day at 6 p.m., continuing to warn beach patrons to stay out of the water.
Ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, one of the busiest weekends of the summer, Harsin warned beachgoers in Belmar to follow the guidance of lifeguards.
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