City lifeguards launch emergency mobile response during Hawaii Beach Safety Week

Drownings can happen with astonishing speed.

“A person can drown in 30 seconds, which is why time is of the essence in getting rescuers to patients in the water,” said Honolulu Ocean Safety Lt. David Loui, who stood on the shores of Maunalua Bay alongside two fellow officers and two Ocean Safety trucks and a utility terrain vehicle Monday to heighten public awareness of drowning risks and preventive measures for Hawaii Beach Safety Week, which runs through Saturday.

Each of the state’s four counties develops its own messaging for the week. Honolulu City and County this year asks the public to call 911 immediately when they see or hear of an emergency, and to remember that mobile coverage may be available even if lifeguard towers appear closed, Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Chief John Titchen said.

“There are 80-85 drownings a year on average in Hawaii, of which about half take place in Honolulu,” Titchen said.

And in a change over the past few years, he added, more people are getting in trouble in remote stretches of shoreline, 2 miles or farther away from beaches with lifeguard towers, in a trend, spurred by the internet, of “wanting to get off the beaten path,” Titchen said, thus increasing the need for quick, mobile responses from officers in trucks, UTVs, all-terrain vehicles and personal watercraft.

Among the most popular and deadly sites on Oahu are China Walls and Spitting Caves, said Lt. Tanner Haytin, pointing east across the waters of Maunalua Bay to Portlock Point, near whose makai end the sea cliffs — from which many swimmers have jumped off to drown in currents, whirlpools and pounding waves — could be seen faintly in the distance.

Maunalua Bay “is a crucial area in our mobile response. Its boat ramp is our quickest point of access, from which a Jet Ski can reach China Walls in one to two minutes and Spitting Caves in two to three minutes, and bring the patient back (to the bay beach alongside the highway) where they can be treated and EMS ambulances can transport them to the hospital,” Haytin said.

On Sunday, Haytin helped rescue two men in their 20s — a local resident and his visiting friend — who had jumped off the rocks at Spitting Caves and were unable to climb back out of the water due to currents, wind and battering waves. Haytin, who like Loui is one of the division’s incident commanders, is based in a pickup truck, speeds to the scene of an emergency and coordinates responses among various mobile units and different agencies such as the Honolulu Fire Department and the Coast Guard.

“A woman called 911, and we were there within 10 minutes,” said Haytin, whose truck unit had been providing backup support to lifeguards in towers at Sandy Beach.

“At the same time, a jet ski launched from (Maunalua Bay), and we met in the water, where I had jumped in with a responder from the Honolulu Fire Department and was with the patients,” he said.

“Luckily, the woman who called had tossed a lifesaving tube from the cliff that they were able to hold onto to stay afloat and conscious until we got there. That probably saved their lives.”

The two men said they’d been drinking and were trying to replicate an adventure they’d watched on YouTube, he added.

“You have to know your capabilities and entry and exit points” before getting in the ocean, Loui said.

“People don’t realize the ocean can be very dangerous even without big surf. The rip currents at China Walls and Spitting Caves are like a river.”

Over the weekend a number of other life-threatening emergencies were prevented when a witness called 911 immediately, Haytin said.

When calling 911, he said, give dispatchers your exact location in the water or on the beach, describing landmarks if you don’t know where you are, and “stay calm, don’t jump in yourself.”

It was a hectic weekend, which coincided with the start of Beach Safety Week on Sunday, but these rashes of incidents can and do happen anytime, not just on weekends, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns have left many residents out of school or work, Titchen said.

He said that in mid-March, Honolulu Ocean Safety shifted from combined tower and mobile operations to exclusively mobile operations during the first emergency order period for COVID-19 by the city and county (when beach parks closed).

“There was no statistical decrease in responses, and in many instances Ocean Safety personnel were able to prevent more potential injuries through increased outreach through vehicle patrols, communications over mounted public address systems, and an increased presence islandwide,” Titchen said.

In the recent, second beach closure, Ocean Safety was able to keep towers open while also deploying more mobile units during core duty hours of 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., aided with funding from the federal CARES Act.

With visitors and residents visiting formerly less frequented parts of Oahu’s coastline, and sea levels rising and eroding beaches, Ocean Safety anticipates a future in which towers will complement a growing mobile presence, Titchen said.

“At this time of year, when the whole island can be hit with significant swells — South Shore, North Shore and tradewind swells (on windward shores) — it’s particularly helpful to be able to dispatch quick, agile mobile units,” he added.