Today’s column is specifically directed toward ocean-recreation rental shops. I don’t have a handle on the names or locations of all of these shops and I won’t be mentioning any specifically, but you know who you are: You rent out
Today’s column is specifically directed toward ocean-recreation rental shops. I don’t have a handle on the names or locations of all of these shops and I won’t be mentioning any specifically, but you know who you are: You rent out goggles and snorkels, fins and boogie boards and the like. Some are on hotel properties, some have street or shopping mall locations.
Here’s the problem: When you rent out goggles and snorkels you automatically rent out fins, but when you rent out boogie boards, you don’t. This omission is akin to advising your student to drive without a seat belt, or sending your child out on a skateboard without a helmet. Many, many of our ocean safety incidents occur from visitors on boogie boards being pulled out in a rip current, unable to get back in because they don’t have fins. Fortunately the vast majority of these incidents don’t result in death — many thanks to our lifeguards and our local surfers — but every year we have cases where someone abandons the boogie board for the sake of their own swimming ability in their effort to get back to shore (or gets knocked off of it by a wave), and the situation can and does quickly degenerate into severe danger or tragedy.
I recognize that adding fins on to the rental obviously adds a couple of dollars to the price, and is therefore a bit of business dis-incentive; but to all of us in ocean safety it’s a no-brainer … the benefit very clearly outweighs this slight downside. One of our hospital nurses, Mary, went further and suggested to me that a safety vest should be rented out with every boogie board. That is a great idea that would pretty much guarantee no boogie-boarding tragedies, but I’m aware that the business dis-incentive of this would be even more significant than the fins. Plus, I can imagine that some people would feel encumbered by the vest and would choose to not wear it to “feel free.” Nevertheless, Mary’s idea is sure hard to refute and there’s nothing wrong with making the offer to your renters, at least thereby letting them know of your interest in their safety. That message alone can be life-saving.
Another recommendation is to get an upright plexiglass 8-inch by 11-inch frame and stand it on your desks with the kauaiexplorer.com’s daily Kauai Ocean Report inserted, then use that as a starting point for a brief safety discussion with your client. I took this idea from the Waiohai Marriott and it works really well for just the kind of “have fun and be careful” message that we’re pushing for as families head out, often cluelessly, for their day of fun at the beach. Also, the WAVE project will soon be providing you with some attractive 8-inch by 11-inch beach information posters that we hope you will display prominently.
I’m confident and appreciative that most of you whom I’m addressing do a good job in sharing safety advice with your clients, and I look forward to seeing you accept the advice that I and my colleagues are offering.
• Monty Downs is an emergency room doctor at Wilcox Memorial Hospital. His column appears every other Wednesday.
