Veteran Lifeguards Push for Rescue of Damaged OCBP Boats

The Ocean City Beach Patrol prides itself on preventing water rescues before they're necessary. But now the OCBP may have to pay for its own success.

Citing a lack of rescues using lifeguard surfboats, some City Council members are balking at the expense of replacing seven of them damaged by winds in a freak July thunderstorm. The damage is covered by insurance.

The idea of trying to pull off a rescue of multiple bathers without a boat led three veteran lifeguards with more than a century of collective experience to the City Council meeting Tuesday to argue for giving the OCBP all the lifeguarding tools they need.

"Think long and hard before you make this decision," said Angelo Psaltis, a former lieutenant who worked the beach from 1958 to 2005. 

Psaltis said there's no viable alternative when several swimmers are caught in a rip current — lifeguards swimming with small torpedo buoys can't always reach multiple victims. 

He compared lifeguard boats to fire trucks — not used frequently but vital when they are.  

"Lifeguard boats have been an integral part of Ocean City from the beginning," said Fred Miller, a former lieutenant and 39-year guard who, as a historian, has read every edition of the from 1893 to last week.

Miller said the boats are commonly used as prevention — with guards watching bathers from the water beyond the breakers.

John McCann, an Ocean City resident and retired captain of the Wildwood Beach Patrol, pointed out that the problem with personal watercraft — often cited as effective replacements for lifeguard boats — are that they rely on engines, which aren't always reliable.

McCann said a full fleet of lifeguard boats is necessary to make sure Ocean City has a fully trained beach patrol.

"You see the value of the lifeguards when they leave the beach in September," McCann said, noting the number of drownings in the off-season after the OCBP season ends.

The debate on the merits of OCBP surfboats started at the Nov. 10 City Council meeting, when Councilman Roy Wagner asked that a resolution be pulled from the consent agenda for "routine" items that are typically considered in a batch.

The resolution appropriated money to replace seven Van Duyne surfboats (at about $9,000 apiece) damaged beyond repair by high winds in a July thunderstorm. Eight other boats were damaged but repaired after the freak storm. The beach patrol had a fleet of 25 working boats at the beginning of the summer.

Wagner called the boats "a very expensive picture prop" and suggested they are very seldom used.

The boats were insured, but the city would not necessarily have to spend reimbursements on new boats, according to Business Administrator Mike Dattilo.

"I'm not going to minimize $63,000," Councilman Keith Hartzell said at the Nov. 10 meeting. "They're used for competition. That's it."

In public comment before the meeting, former OCBP lifeguard Mike Hamilton cited United States Lifesaving Association statistics and said surfboats were involved in only one OCBP water rescue in 2009. Statistics for the same year show 10 workers compensation claims for injuries related to lifeguard boats, Hamilton said.

He suggested rescue boards (at $700 to $875 apiece) are more effective and cost-efficient as lifeguarding equipment.

Council asked the administration to have acting Fire Chief Charles Bowman, who oversees the beach patrol, make recommendations on trends in lifesaving equipment and on how necessary a full fleet of surfboats is.

"I'd like to leave our fleet at 25," said Bowman, who said he was never approached with the request for a report.

The tabled resolution is not on the agenda for the Dec. 8 meeting, and City Council President Michael Allegretto said Friday that it has not been decided yet if it will be on the agenda for the next meeting.