Why are there no lifeguards in Brunswick County?
BOLIVIA, N.C. (WECT) -Brunswick County saw its first drowning death of the year last week. Allen Whitley, a father from Mount Gilead died saving his 11-year-old daughter and another child stuck in a rip current in Holden Beach. The tragic accident has renewed a call to add protections to area beaches. Theres no lifeguards here, its just.... theres no flags that warn you how rough the water is, theres nothing. All you can do is call 911 and pray, said mother Charity Dalton. Daltons son, Thomas, was one of the children Whitley rescued from the rip current last week. She was one of three adults that jumped in the water to save the children as the current pulled them further from shore. None of the beach towns in Brunswick County have lifeguards. Horry County beaches have them to the south, and New Hanover County beaches have them to the north, but Brunswick County towns have decided to go in another direction with their beach safety programs. There have been talks of adding lifeguards to the strand in the past. The last big discussion happened back in 2013 in the Brunswick Beach Consortium, a group made up of representatives from each town. The proposal came up after a spike in drownings. One person in favor of adding lifeguards was the mayor of Sunset Beach at the time, Rich Cerrato. Representatives from Wrightsville Beach came down to give a presentation about their lifeguard program, but at the end of the day, the idea never went anywhere. I was hoping that it would foster further study to see whether lifeguards should be implemented in Sunset Beach and in Brunswick County, but it never caught on fire. It was apparently...it just evaporated, but the concern is still there, said Cerrato. Cerrato believes a combination of price concerns and legal liability concerns had a lot to do with why no changes were ever made. Meeting minutes from 2013 say the discussion was tabled until they got more information from legislators about a bill that could have put a liability cap on municipalities. The Brunswick Beach Consortium split in 2015. If you ask each town, though, the exact obstacles to adding lifeguards vary. Bald Head Island  Beach Patrol: Public Safety Officers patrol in the two Quick Response Vehicles which are equipped with a variety of supplies for first response to medical emergencies, fires, and water rescue as well as for law enforcement. Water rescue: Public safety officers trained in water rescue. Flag System: The town does not currently have a warning flag system, but are working on having a flag and signage posted near the marina so it can be seen by visitors as they arrive. Signage: Yes  Flotation Devices: Yes  Lifeguards have not been discussed recently at the Village and when it was discussed years ago, liability was the main reason for not having them, said Village of Bald Head Island public information officer Carin Faulkner. Caswell Beach  Beach Patrol: First implemented in 2020 to assist with town ordinances and provide quick response in case of emergencies. Caswell Beach is one of the smaller municipalities located in Brunswick County, so resource allocation is always a consideration. Having said, the Town has worked to improve safety as well as service to the community. Last year, the Town implemented a beach patrol to assist with enforcement of Town Ordinances and provide quick response in case of emergencies. The beach patrol also allows the Town to communicate with the public in a direct/ specific manner, which can be difficult due to the weekly turnover of visitors, said Caswell Beach town administrator Jeff Griffin. Holden Beach  Beach Patrol: In past, code enforcement has patrolled beaches  Water rescue: Town contracts with Tri- Beach Fire to provide water rescue services  Flag System: No  Signage: Yes. Flotation Devices: No. Oak Island Police Dept Patrols strand. Yes, through Oak Island Water Rescue. Yes. Yes. The right to enjoy our natural resources by everyone is unquestionable. In complimenting that right, the Town of Oak Island continues to work within the resources available, to provide the safest possible environment for residents and visitors alike. We maintain support of the established response methods, such as the Oak Island Water Rescue (www.oiwr.org), and regular beach patrols of the Oak Island Police Department. Additionally, the Town is striving to incorporate new and innovative education and prevention methods. These include public awareness campaigns through television and social media, as well as the use of loudspeaker messaging delivered via the Towns unmanned aerial system (drone). While ultimately the term swim at our own risk may apply, the Town is consistently working to provide beachgoers with adequate information, to help educate and empower them to determine their own acceptable risk level, said a statement from the town of Oak Island. Retired police officers patrol the beach strand. No  There is some liability there and it does cost a lot of money. Of course you cant put a price on a life, but we dont have a history of a lot of drownings either because of the gentleness of our slope and typically the gentleness of the ocean, said Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith. Beach patrol team monitors strand with UTV. Many staff have EMS and rescue training. Yes. Yes. Yes. As far as adding lifeguards stands to Sunset Beach, its a conversation we may look into in the future but the program we have right now is robust, it has rescuers on the strand that has beach patrol staff doing a lot of different things and its working for us, said Sunset Beach Fire Chief Paul Hasenmeier. Theres no guarantee that having lifeguards would have saved the life of victims like Allen Whitley, but the people who were there that day can only hope for more protections in the future. For the next family, its something they need, added Dalton. At this time, none of the municipalities I spoke with for this story are aware of any discussions about adding lifeguards to the strand. Copyright 2021 WECT. All rights reserved.