• Water safety Water safety By Monty Downs, M.D. Having experienced our second double family-drowning in the last 16 months, every agency and organization (and maybe every person) on Kaua‘i has to look at themselves to try and determine what
• Water safety
Water safety
By Monty Downs, M.D.
Having experienced our second double family-drowning in the last 16 months, every agency and organization (and maybe every person) on Kaua‘i has to look at themselves to try and determine what we can do to prevent these shattering tragedies which are world class in their devastation, just as our beaches are world class in their beauty. (As a painful reminder, the tragedy in December ‘02 was that of a father and son drowning a few yards offshore the Wailua area known as Marine Camp, as the wife and sister looked on helplessly).
Looking at Kaua‘i’s “players” that have the potential to impact Water Safety, my analysis goes like this:
A) The County unfortunately does not have the resources to guard every beach (such as Marine Camp or Lumaha‘i). In fact I believe that the County (with lasting kudos to former Mayor Kusaka and now to Mayor Baptiste) has been exemplary in its work to elevate our Water Safety services. (Eleven Lifeguards 10 years ago, 31 today, along with tremendous equipment upgrades such as JetSkis with their rescue sleds). In the case of our most recent tragedy, 2 highly skilled Hanalei Bay Lifeguards were at the scene at Lumaha‘i, thanks to their Jet-skis, within 3 minutes of receiving the distress call. And the County, with some State support, has posted warning signs at many, many beaches, including Marine Camp, Lumaha‘i, Queen’s Pond. (This signage is important but of limited value for a number of reasons, the most obvious being that signs can’t conduct a rescue).
Nevertheless, The County is the most important part of Kaua‘i’s Water Safety program, and it needs to continue beefing up its share of the program including doing whatever it takes to expand hours of coverage.
B) The State, on the other hand, is far behind in accepting its responsibility in Water Safety at their Beach Parks, and it is leaving (very heavily-used) Ke‘e Beach and (less heavily used but very treacherous) Polihale Beach completely wide open and unguarded. I applaud Senator Hooser for introducing SB 2322, which would have aided Lifeguards for Ke‘e Beach, to this year’s Legislature. But the Bill never survived even its first hearing in Honolulu.
C) The third player is “the private sector.” I break this into at least four components (and if one included into this discussion fresh-water areas such as Kipu Falls one could add a 5′). First is our local beach-goers and surfers, our “Lay Lifeguards”. They have a fabulous record of really countless rescues and preventions, and on behalf of those whom they have saved (plus their families) I take this opportunity to tip my hat to them and their skills and their Aloha.
The second is our water-equipment vendors who rent out kayaks, boogie-boards, dive gear, etc. They have a huge opportunity to warn every person who enters their doors about the caution that must be exercised around our waters. They should be renting out fins with every boogie board that goes out the front door (as is the case with masks and snorkels). And they should convene on a regular (quarterly?) basis to review their strategies and actions towards Water Safety. We on the Task Force will be happy to facilitate such convenings; and we will make sure that Lifeguards are there to give their opinions and expertise as to what could and should be done.
Third are our Hotels, and any Condominiums with a front desk, and maybe even our B & B’s. Again, they all have a huge opportunity to warn, and I sometimes think that a key word or two from the concierge desk or the parking valet might be the single most key prevention element in a Water Safety program. Many of the Hotels have excellent warnings in the activities brochures that are in each room. And many Hotels have warning flags and signs on the beaches that front them. I think we should, with the help of KVB’s Sue Kanoho, arrange for a Hotel Association meeting — with Lifeguards present – dedicated to Water Safety and Prevention, with each Hotel or Condominium Manager bringing to the table a description of the measures that each one of them takes, so that this knowledge can be shared and built upon.
Fourth, the Rotary Club of Poipu Beach has just demonstrated, with their South Shore Rescue Craft Facility project, how private-sector financial donations can improve Kauai’s Water Safety program. More such projects (e.g. a corresponding North Shore facility, or a new Surveyor Tower at Po‘ipu which would give Lifeguards views of both the Poipu Beach Park and the Wai‘ohai Beach) can lead to further key program upgrades.
There are even more avenues that can be pursued within the private sector. For example, our Task Force has been discussing how to get all Rental Cars to have a dashboard sticker with a simple message (e.g. “Always be careful around our beautiful ocean. Unseen currents and rogue waves may exist. When in doubt, don’t go out.”).
And getting the incoming airlines to come on board with a brief Water Safety message has long been a dream of Water Safety officials on all our Islands, but that nut has proved to be particularly hard to crack because of all the Federal Regulations involved with the airline industry.
Given the very definition of our small water-surrounded community (i.e. island) with its open exposure to the sometimes not-too-subtle but sometimes very-subtle forces of the vast Pacific Ocean, I don’t think that it’s realistic that we could ever achieve a rate of zero drownings. But we have learned that striving for that is a goal we must have if we are to deserve being called a Paradise Destination. Otherwise we will continue to prove to be a Hell on Earth for some.
New ideas are always welcome. I’m sure that there are a lot of good ideas that haven’t been considered in this review. You can contact me at 822-3695, or Task Force Co-Chair George Simpson at 639-4526 and we will forward your input to our Task Force.
Dr. Monty Downs is the Co-Chair of the Kauai Water Safety Task Force
