Contact:
Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project
Dave Benjamin, Executive Director of Public Relations,
708-903-0166
Bob Pratt, Executive Director of Education, 517-643-2553
GREAT LAKES CAN MEAN GREAT PERIL
Drowning Epidemic
Public education in concert with safety
measures a must
Since 2010
more than 262 people have drowned in the Great Lakes. Eight of these fatal drownings recently occurred
over this year’s Labor
Day weekend.
Karl
W. Schmidt, 60, a grandfather, was one of those drownings. He was enjoying Lake Michigan with his family
over the holiday weekend when tragedy struck his 9-year-old grandson who was
pulled from shore. Schmidt was able to
pass the boy to nearby surfers who took him to shore. Sadly in the confusion Schmidt had used his
last ounce of energy to save the boy and went under.
Bystanders
began a frantic search and found his body 200 yards from shore where surfer,
Burton Hathaway, paddled him in.
Schmidt’s children, grandchildren, and hundreds of holiday beach goers
watched in desperation as bystanders performed CPR until officers and first
responders arrived.
(Rescue workers perform lifesaving
efforts to Karl Schmidt)
Family and
beach goers continued to watch Schmidt, unresponsive to the chest compressions,
as he was carried from the water’s edge to a waiting ambulance.
The same day, Tyler
Buczek, 15, an 8th grade valedictorian
and incoming freshman quarterback disappeared in the waves at a Port
Washington, WI beach as his closest friends watched.
One of his friends was quoted as
saying, “We're all freshmen. It’s supposed to be we're all happy, we're
in high school. But I don't think that's
going to be how it is this year.”
Those who know Tyler recalled a boy with a big future. He was supposed to start his first day of high
school, but instead songs, prayers and tears flowed as nearly 1,000 people
gathered for his beachside vigil to support the teenager's family.
Now multiply these tragic stories by 262 and counting and
know that these drowning numbers will continue to rise unless a uniform water
safety education program is in place.
Two men and a mission
Bob Pratt and
Dave Benjamin have worked fulltime for more than two years without pay in an
effort to save lives through their nonprofit organization, the Great Lakes Surf
Rescue Project (GLSRP).
Since 2010 they have been tracking drowning statistics and, in the summer of 2011 and 2012, they performed 17 “Water Safety Surf Rescue” classes on the beaches and in the
waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
People who attended the classes consisted of the general public,
surfers, lifeguards, Department of Natural Resource (DNR) officers, police
officers, fire fighters, paramedics, water rescue team members, dive team
members, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The GLSRP intends to expand its classes to all five Great
Lakes, create a Water Safety Rip Current Survival national curriculum, in order
to reduce these drownings.
Pratt recently retired
after 25 years of service as paramedic, fire fighter, and fire marshal for
the city of East Lansing, MI to take the helm of the GLSRP full-time. He is also a certified lifeguard, CPR, and
first aid instructor and has served as the lead trainer for the fire department’s
water and ice rescue training as well as several police and fire agencies in
Michigan including Lansing Community College’s Police Academy.
Pratt became an advocate for Great Lakes water safety when
he was going to teach his son to surf September 3, 2003. On that day at the beach, U.S. Coast Guard
helicopters and boats were in the water searching for Andy
Fox, who got caught in a rip current at Grand Haven State Park.
“We spent some
time on the beach just reflecting and were deeply affected by the sight,” said
Pratt. “I was appalled to learn how
common drownings were on the Great Lakes. Very few beaches have lifeguards, and
bystanders are often the only hope a drowning victim has.”
Fox's death
sparked Pratt’s interest in rip currents and he later worked with Fox's mom on
several projects including the “Great Lakes Beach and Pier Safety Task Force”
and the “Beach Safety Challenge”.
Benjamin has swum
in Lake Michigan for 42 years and started surfing the Lake in 2009. While surfing in
2010 he survived a nonfatal
drowning accident
which prompted his dedication to this cause.
“After swimming in the lake my whole life, I was pretty
comfortable in the water,” said Benjamin, executive director of the GLSRP. “But all it took was one moment of panic for
all experience and rational thought to go out the window.”
According to Benjamin when he was drowning, he remembered an
article titled, “Drowning
doesn’t look like drowning” by Mario Vittone and it saved his life.
“I was doing all the signs [of drowning] and when I stopped doing
the signs I was able to eventually float to safety.”
This summer Benjamin participated in an unsuccessful
water rescue and witnessed several bodies pulled from the water.
“Going to the beach is supposed to be about family fun,
recreation, love and happiness. Not
about tragedy, despair, and hopelessness,” Benjamin concluded.
THE
SOLUTION
The GLSRP is
working with the Michigan Sea Grant’s “Flip,
Float, and Follow” rip current survival strategy, to
develop a national curriculum similar to the Fire Prevention Services’ “Stop,
Drop and Roll” program.
“Ask anyone
anywhere in the United States and they probably know ‘Stop, Drop and Roll,’” Benjamin
aptly noted, hoping “Flip, Float, Follow” can catch on as well.”
The GLSRP has been promoting the Michigan Sea Grant’s “Flip,
Float, and Follow” rip current survival strategy through its “Water Safety Surf
Rescue” classes this summer and it has received over
30 media mentions.
With some funding, the GLSRP is ready to launch a regional
and then national water safety curriculum to teach the public how to:
·
Recognize the dangers and hazards of the Great Lakes surf
environment keeping personal safety as THE primary responsibility
·
Implement
Hands-on Adult Supervision –
·
Designate Water
Watchers (The
Water Watcher Card)
·
Recognize the “Signs
of Drowning” – How to identify a person in trouble from within a crowd
(The Hollywood version of drowning vs. the actual version of drowning)
·
Understand rip currents; i.e. how, where, and why rip
currents occur;
·
Know the Dangerous
Currents
·
Know
the dangers
of Offshore Winds
·
Use a flotation device or surfboard to rescue a person in
distress or in a rip current
·
React when encountering swimmers who have suffered an injury
or unconscious
·
Enroll in lifesaving, first aid and CPR training from
accredited agencies.
·
Use the Michigan Sea Grants “Flip,
Float, and Follow” rip current survival strategy
The Price of Apathy
If no uniform
public water safety curriculum is funded, the Great Lakes drowning epidemic
will definitely continue to rise, especially as the beaches receive national
recognition and multimillion dollar restoration projects are under way. More attractive beaches result in more
bathers and, without effective intervention, more drownings.
Although the
GLSRP is a young organization, it has made some huge accomplishments in less
than two years and is ready to handle the challenge of delivering this national
water safety curriculum.
PROPOSED INDIANA RIP CURRENT SWIM BAN
Indiana State
Senator Jim Arnold is drafting legislation that, if passed, will make it
illegal to swim in Lake Michigan when rip current warnings are issued.
Arnold was
quotes as saying, “The whole purpose of this is to save lives and protect
people who have shortcomings (with understanding how dangerous these conditions
are). This law provides a way to enforce
this. This is a public safety issue.”
The bill would exempt
those who want to surf Lake Michigan provided they wore the proper safety gear.
According to
the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, on average, fifty percent of all Great
Lakes drownings occur in Lake Michigan and fifty percent of Lake Michigan
drownings occur on the south end of the Lake from Chicagoland to the
Indiana/Michigan border. Approximately
one-third of all Great Lakes drownings are rip current related.
“We are thankful
that there is interest in water safety, but drowning is a complex problem and
we need to make sure the lawmakers realize that this will not keep every
swimmer out of the water nor prevent all drownings,” said Bob Pratt executive
director of education of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.
“Rip currents
are only a piece of the drowning puzzle on the Lake. Without addressing all of the factors that
lead to drowning, we are not addressing the problem; factors such as the lack
of lifeguards at most beaches, the lack of adult supervision, other dangerous
currents, offshore winds, Seiches, or localized winds that arise before the National
Weather Service can issue a warning.”
“This law may
reduce a few drownings but we really need a comprehensive plan to address all
the factors and not leave enforcement and interpretation to local
jurisdictions.”
Pratt recently returned from the
International Rip Current Symposium in Sydney, Australia where he presented the work of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue
Project and the Great Lakes drowning epidemic.
In March Pratt will be presenting a Stand-Up Paddleboard curriculum at
the National Drowning Prevention Alliance’s 12th Annual Symposium in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
MAJOR BEACH RESTORATION PROJECTS
Amidst the
drowning fatalities and possible swim ban, in Northwest Indiana there are two beach
restoration projects totaling $70 million, which will bring even more people to
the lakefront.
In Gary the Northwest Indiana Regional
Development Authority (RDA) provided a $28
million grant for the Marquette Park Lakefront East Project. “It will create an economic boom nearby and
bring people to this important piece of shoreline,” said RDA Executive Director
Bill Hanna. In Whiting the focus of the $42 million
redevelopment project
is to transform the Whiting Lakefront Park into a destination point for all to
enjoy.
“With all of
this money for restoration projects designed to bring more people to the
beaches, you have to ask the question, ‘How much money or funding is allocated
for water safety drowning prevention programs,’” Benjamin said.
“These
drowning numbers do not happen on the east coast and west coast combined, so
what are they doing on the coasts that are not being done on the Great Lakes?”
###
Become a
member
of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, Inc. (GLSRP) is
about saving lives. It is a nonprofit corporation that is a Chapter of the National Drowning Prevention
Alliance (NDPA) that tracks drowning statistics, teaches “Water Safety Surf Rescue” classes, and leads the
“Third Coast Ocean Force” rip current awareness
campaign on the Great Lakes.
It presented at the 2nd International Rip Current Symposium Nov. 1st, 2012 in Sydney, Australia; the 2012
winner of the “Outstanding Service to the Great Lakes Community”
award presented by the Dairyland Surf Classic; the 2011 “Lifesaver of the Year” award winner;
and a presenter at the NDPA’s 11th Annual
Symposium in San Diego, March 9, 2012.
