A Wednesday morning news conference to announce the installation of 20 bright yellow foam flotation devices called “rescue tubes” on city-owned beaches was briefly interrupted with a real-time ocean rescue.
At about 9:30 a.m. and with vehicle sirens blaring, city Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division personnel raced down Kalanianaole Highway from Sandy Beach Park — where Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s administration was unveiling a pilot project to bolster shoreline water rescues from East Honolulu to Windward Oahu — in order to actually rescue two men stuck in a surf break off Portlock in Hawaii Kai.
The Honolulu Emergency Services Department later reported a 20-year-old man visiting Oahu decided to celebrate his birthday by jumping into the ocean at the infamous China Walls surf spot.
A good Samaritan dialed 911 after seeing both men struggling.
The caller then assisted one man to safety while throwing a flotation device — though not a rescue tube — to the 20-year-old to hold on to. That swimmer, unable to leave the water on his own, was subsequently plucked from the ocean by responding lifeguards and Honolulu Fire Department crews, EMS reported.
The rescued 20-year-old suffered cuts and bruises but required no further medical attention, EMS reported.
“These emergencies come at a moment’s notice, just like that, as you all saw standing here — the alarm went off and two swimmers in distress off China Walls,” said EMS Director James Ireland, during the news conference held in front of Sandy Beach’s whitish-colored lifeguard tower 4B. “We don’t have a tower (at China Walls), it’s kind of a remote area … and this is where these rescue tubes are going to really play a role in saving people’s lives, in places where the lifeguards aren’t.”
The rescue tubes program, initiated by different chapters of the Lions and Rotary clubs, has seen these over 4-foot-long, rectangular flotation devices placed at Oahu beaches which stretch from Kawaikui Beach Park near Aina Haina to Kailua Beach Park.
According to the city, members of the Lions and Rotary clubs worked with the Honolulu City Council, Ocean Safety lifeguards, and the city Department of Parks and Recreation to determine key points for the lifesaving devices.
The locations include:
>> Kawaikui Beach Park
>> Shoreline access points in Portlock — China Walls and Spitting Cave
>> Kaiwi Coast — Lanai Lookout and Halona Blowhole
>> Sandy Beach Park
>> Makapuu Beach Park
>> Kaiona Beach Park
>> Waimanalo Beach Park
>> Hunananiho
>> Bellows Field Beach Park
>> Kailua Beach Park
Although the rescue tubes are not new to Hawaii, they are new for use on Oahu, the city says.
“These were first installed on Kauai a little over a decade ago,” DPR spokesperson Nate Serota said at the news conference. “And the Lions Club and the Rotary Club have been installing them over these past couple of months.”
To note the exact locations for the 20 rescue tubes, DPR created an interactive map that contains information about ocean safety and shoreline access. The map is viewable online at bit.ly/OahuBeachAccess.
The map also contains information about beaches staffed with the island’s 42 Ocean Safety lifeguard towers, DPR-managed beach access points, and other ocean accessibility and safety amenities, the city says.
The yellow foam rescue tubes, intended as flotation devices for assisting water rescuer’s weight, include a black lanyard strap. At selected beaches, those tubes are affixed to designated, highly visible stands, and are readily available for use by any beachgoer in emergency situations, the city says.
According to Rescue Tube Foundation — a group that started on Kauai — these flotation devices have been successfully used in more than 200 rescues. And it asserts rescue tubes are now installed at over 600 locations across the United States and Canada.
The State Department of Health reports on average about 40 drowning-related deaths occur in the state each year.
At the Sandy Beach news conference, lifeguard Lt. Kawika Eckart said rescue tubes will generally be located in front of city lifeguard towers.
“Why is it in front of a lifeguard tower? It’s here for when we’re not here. For days when we’re not manning the tower, the hours we’re not manning the tower,” Eckart said. “It’s basically a tool that somebody can use, and take out there, and help somebody just float.”
He added “we’re not asking you to get out in the ocean and rescue somebody.”
“It’s just a flotation device that will buy time to call 911,” said Eckart, but reminding “it’s important that before you get in the water and grab the rescue tube, just call 911 and get emergency responders on their way.”
After the news conference, Hawaii Kai Lions Club member Allen Umeda said his group has worked on this project for 10 years.
“Our agreement with the city includes a total of four Lions Clubs around the East Oahu area,” he added, “but we’re happy to work with the city and any other volunteer organizations to install rescue tubes in their communities.”
Umeda noted the Lions Club first placed rescue tubes at China Walls.
“It’s the most heavily used of all of the rescue tube locations,” he said. “I estimate that it’s probably used on a weekly basis, that’s because it’s very deceptively dangerous because it’s unusually calm and people jump in and a big wave comes in … usually the surfers will fish them out, if it’s a big surf day, when there’s lots of surfers.”
Meantime, he said their rescue tubes were largely installed at beaches with no lifeguards. “The idea being that it’s there to help people when they don’t have a lifeguard.”
Also at the beach, Stephen Morgan, a Rotary Club of Waikiki past president, said his group tried to place rescue tubes — which cost $100 per tube — in the Waikiki and Ala Moana areas around 2016.
“But we were afraid they were just going to get stolen,” Morgan said. “The Hawaii Kai Lions, I know, that they’ve done really good on their placement. So, it was suggested we donate (our rescue tubes) to the Lions.”
Arnie Serota, a Rotary Club of Hanalei member, said Kauai has installed about 250 rescue tubes thus far.
“The program on Kauai started in 2008, and it was an unproven technology at that point,” he said. “The Rotary Club put float tubes all around the island and from that point it started saving lives, it really works.”
