My Turn: The peril involved in losing ocean safety officers

We read with dismay the news in West Hawaii Today about the potential loss of the Ocean Safety Officers at our state beaches of Hapuna and Kua Bay due to budget shortfalls by the State of Hawaii.

For years, we have heard of drownings, broken necks, spinal injuries and near drownings that have occurred at unguarded beaches. Off-duty lifeguards have saved countless lives at Kua Bay prior to lifeguards being funded for this beach. The treacherous currents and shore breaks that exist at this beach can be extremely dangerous. Also, for years, representatives and senators from Hawaii Island had been asking for financial support from the state budget to protect the visitors to this beach from having tragic outcomes. For many years, the Finance Committee chose to not fund ocean safety officers for this dangerous beach and multiple lives were lost.

In 2017, Hawaii Fire Department Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki provided testimony to the state Legislature that “With the increased number of beach patrons, the number of ocean related incidents including spinal injuries and drownings have increased. Kua Bay is now one of the top 10 locations in the state where spinal injuries occur. In January of 2019, a male visitor from the mainland in his fifties died after being pulled from the water by bystanders who were on the beach. The victim was in cardiac arrest and the bystanders performed CPR but without success. The nearest rescue or medical assistance to Kua Bay is approximately 15 to 20 minutes away, which seems like an eternity for someone in his condition. With the absence of lifeguard services or lifesaving equipment at Kua Bay, the chance of someone surviving that sustains a major injury or major medical emergency is very low. We have received many calls, including some from our own lifeguards, who inform us that they performed many rescues at Kua Bay on their days off prior to the presence of lifeguards there. I have also received a call from a victim who was rescued by a bystander after being caught in a rip current. He stated that he would have drowned if he hadn’t gotten help, and questioned why we did not have lifeguards there.”

It is irresponsible to invite our visitors and community members to enjoy the beauty of Kua Bay and Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area and not provide protection for them. The ocean safety officers at both beaches are essential for saving lives. In addition to personally witnessing a near drowning at Hapuna beach (only averted because of Ocean Safety Officer Brock Miller’s heroic efforts), the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation has provided numerous awards to the ocean safety officers serving Hapuna Beach for saving countless lives over the years.

I would urge our community as well as our state Legislators to go to our web site at www.DanielSayreFoundation.org and review the rescue videos there to see how impactful these rescues have been. Then ask yourselves what each of you can do to urge our state legislators to make certain that we do not lose these first responders for our community and our visitors. Every voice counts when decisions such as these are being made. If the majority supports the saving of the funding for our lifeguards, it can have monumental impact. Please join our foundation in contacting every state legislator and request that they continue to provide the financial support for our ocean safety officers at Hapuna Beach and at Kua Bay. Your efforts will help to save lives.

Laura Mallery-Sayre and Dr. Frank Sayre are the Executive Director/President of The Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation.