Over the next few weeks and months all of Glynn County’s emergency response personnel, including police and firefighter’s, will learn how to use the county’s beach rescue equipment.

The joint training program got started last Wednesday afternoon August 13 at the Coast Guard Station beach access where the county stores their beach rescue equipment.

Several weeks ago Glynn County Firefighter John Baker, with the assistance of a bystander, used a ‘rescue tube’ and swam out to the sandbar off East Beach on St. Simons Island to rescue three young woman who were trapped by the incoming tide.

Baker said, “We got to the beach within four minutes of getting the emergency call at the station. It would have taken other rescue agencies much longer to get to the beach and the tide was on the way in, so we swam out with the rescue tubes that Nicole (Fairfield) gave us. By the time we got all three back to the beach, the sandbar was covered.”

Ms. Fairfield is the Glynn County Parks and Recreation Department’s Aquatics Program Coordinator.

Asked about the joint beach training, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said, “We’ve had this training on our schedule, but this recent incident with the women on the sandbar brought it to the forefront, so we moved the training up and started it last week with some basics.”

The St. Simons Surf Sailors club leases a small piece of property between the Coast Guard Station parking lot and the beach from Glynn County for $1,000 per year, where members store sailboats. They are limited to small, catamaran sailboats, kayaks, and wind surfers.

The property also contains a small building that includes storage bays, two of which the Surf Sailors have turned over to the county for equipment storage.

The county keeps two kayaks on a trailer with a small four-wheel vehicle to pull the trailer in the storage unit along with a number of ‘Type 4 PFD’s (personal flotation device) such as life vests, throw bags with rope, rescue cans and tubes and three back boards for injured swimmers.

County Police Training Division Lt. Jay Wiggins, who headed up last week’s training said, “Safety on the beach is a priority for us. Today’s session is going to be on getting into the gate and storage bays and getting the equipment to the beach.”

“The key was a problem in the past,” explained Wiggins, “There used to be a key lock on the Surf Sailors’ fence gate and on the door to our bay. If someone had to get to the equipment they had to stop at the Demere precinct to get the key. We now have a combination lock on the fence and door for quicker access.”

During the course of last week’s training, everyone there was familiarized with the locks and combination before taking turns on the four-wheeler with the kayak trailer.

The trailer is light and designed to be easily maneuvered by hand as well as towed by a vehicle.

“The trailer can also be used to transport an injured swimmer on a back board if necessary,” said Wiggins.
Wiggins said, “Chief Doering wants everyone to get on the four wheeler, crank it up, pull it out of the shed, back it up to the trailer, hook it up and drive it out. Some of these folks have never driven it or handled the trailer. It’s not difficult, but we want to make sure they have it down to an art and are able to get the equipment out of the shed and down to the beach where it is needed as quickly as possible.”

The county’s fire and recreation departments are involved in the training as well.

“We are pooling our resources and want to make sure everyone is on the same page and knows how to get to and use this equipment,” said Wiggins.

Ms. Fairfield told The Islander, “The kayaks stay on the beach with the life guards during the day in the summer. That way they have them if they need them. But in the off-season or after life guard hours, these police and firefighters need to know how to get this equipment to the beach and how to use it.”

“Monday, September 1 is the last day of the life guard season,” Fairfield added, “but we will be fully staffed for Labor Day weekend.”

Doering also told The Islander, “This is just the start of the training. In the next few weeks the police officers will receive in-the-water training with the kayaks and other beach rescue equipment.”

Fire Chief Al Thomas said his department would continue to work and train with the police in this endeavor.

"My plans are to keep working with Chief Doering," Thomas said last Friday, "with the joint training in the water and with the kayaks to develop more water rescue capabilities."