VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — First responders want the thousands of people who are flocking to the beach this holiday weekend to keep safety in mind. On Independence Day alone, the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service received more than 75 missing children reports.
“We just need everybody to watch their children like a hawk from time you get here to the time you leave,” said Tom Gill, chief of Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.
Plenty of worry and emergencies can arise at the beach.
“We’ve done probably 5 to 10 medical calls along the beach,” Gill said, “some more serious than others, and then of course, we are up to over 70 lost children reports. There’s a lot of people out here. Kids turn around in two seconds and get lost.”
The Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service will be working around the clock over the next few days. Gill said his team is prepared for whatever comes their way.
“The lifeguards are doing a great job of what we do — preventative and lifesaving,” Gill said. “We’re keeping people close to the shore, making sure they’re not putting themselves in a bad situation, not ruining anybody’s fun.”
Plus, there’s lots of fun to be had for the youngest to oldest members in your family.
“It’s been nice and relaxing,” said beachgoer Shenequua Granderson. “You just gotta watch them with the waves and make sure somebody is monitoring the kids.”
Gill said they do see an uptick in lost children reports on the beach during busy times like this, but there are protocols in place should you find yourself in that situation.
“If you do lose a family member, go up to the lifeguard’s stand and report it immediately,” Gill said.
Once you report that person missing, the lifeguard takes down all identifying information and dispatches it to their lifeguard tower.
“As soon as that gets called in, every lifeguard has a radio,” Gill said. “They are all hearing the report, so obviously the ones closest to the report are gonna take a look around, and we find that child within 5, 10 minutes.”
Something many beach goers agree on, like Daysi Martinez, is making it her number one priority at the beach to keep an eye on her little brother.
“I think it’s very important because, especially him, he’s such a troublemaker, so I feel like anything can go wrong,” said beachgoer Daysi Martinez, “and I hear every second a lifeguard say there’s a lost child.”
“People should feel really safe about coming to our beach,” Gill said. “We are USLA certified, which means every lifeguard out here has a minimum of 40 hours of surf and rescue courses and advanced first aid and CPR for the professional rescuers. All of our supervisors are EMTs and above, so we’re basically an ambulance service coming to your house right here on the beach.”
