Three rescued near Sixth Avenue beach
'People need to realize that when the lifeguards go off duty, they shouldn't go in the water, period'
Three females were reportedly caught in a rip tide in the ocean near Sixth Avenue beach this evening and then rescued by city emergency services personnel.
Around 7 p.m., fire captain Brett Nielsen, firefighter Mike Quigley and police officer Jeff White entered the water and saved the three victims, public information officer Garrett Giberson said.
“There was some moderate rip current that caused the females to become victims,” Giberson said.
The three were rescued “within a matter of minutes,” he said.
Due to last month’s fatal drowning off of the Second Avenue beach [rescue attempts pictured above], lifeguards have been staying an hour later — until 6 p.m. on weekdays and 7 p.m. on weekends — or even longer if conditions are rough. After the lifeguards leave, the city’s fire and emergency medical services [EMS] personnel stay near the beach in case of an emergency due to after-hours swimmers.
But late-in-the-day beachgoers still shouldn’t feel so comfortable entering the water unattended, Giberson said.
“People need to realize that when the lifeguards go off duty, they shouldn’t go in the water, period,” Giberson said. “If [EMS personnel] are helping someone at the other end of the beach, they’re going to have a problem.”
The main purpose of keeping EMS officials at the beach later in the day is not to provide the same services as a lifeguard would, but to cut down on rescue time, Giberson said.
