Mother, daughter saved in Po‘ipu

South Shore ocean currents pulled a mother and daughter swimming yesterday morning near Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club hundreds of feet east toward Baby Beach.

Po‘ipu Beach lifeguards Roy Yamagata, Cadin Crane and Sanoi Hookano responded to save the distressed family visiting from Lake Oswego, Ore.

The three lifeguards, with the volunteered help of Po‘ipu resident Andy Siegel, cleared snorkelers out of the area and launched a nearby Kaua‘i Fire Department emergency jet ski into the water at Po‘ipu Beach.

Yamagata and Crane drove the watercraft to the scene and, with help from Inter-Island Helicopters Air-1 spotting overhead, discovered “a mom and little girl having problems.”

Crane entered the water, Yamagata said, and helped the pair onto a slit attached to the jet ski and then returned to Beach House Restaurant.

“They ended up OK, just scared,” Crane said.

“The little girl was shook up,” Yamagata added.

It marked the second incident for the lifeguards that day.Ten minutes prior to that rescue, the staff tended to a 54-year-old man from Castle Rock, Colo., who had swallowed ocean water and was “spitting blood,” Yamagata said.

“The past two days have been busy,” he added.

Friday the lifeguards helped an injured female skateboarder and a man who “hit his face on the sand” at Brennecke’s Beach, causing head and neck injuries, Yamagata said.

Kauaiexplorer.com, an online resource for island beaches and trails, recommends visitors and residents heed the following ocean safety tips: Talk to lifeguards for advice; note the posted warning signs; observe constantly changing conditions; remember waves come in sets; be careful on wet sand and rocks; do not fight rip currents; and never swim alone.