What if a swimmer is struggling to stay above water, frantically gasping for air as they fight a rip current? What if you’re near a fellow surfer who is face down in the water, unconscious?
Would you know what to do?
Lifeguards in Huntington Beach this week held S.A.L.T. – Surfers Awareness in Lifesaving Techniques – training for the Huntington Beach High surf team, teaching the teens how to respond to ocean emergencies because surfers often may be the first on the scene in a life-or-death situation in the sea.
The Huntington Beach Marine Safety Department created its S.A.L.T. program in 2015, and the lifesaving lessons for surfers have caught on, adopted by other lifeguarding departments as a way to get extra help for people in distress.
“Whenever there is an emergency situation, everyone wants to help, but not everyone knows how to help,” said Huntington Beach Marine Safety Captain Derek Peters, who led the two-day lesson on a recent day.
Peters, a former pro surfer turned lifeguard, said a program like this didn’t exist when he was growing up, but there were several times he could remember swimmers or surfers who needed help near the pier area.
Surfers in the program learn everything from coaching people out of a rip current to how to get an unconscious person on a surfboard to help them to shore. The first day is held in a classroom setting, the second on the sand and in the surf.
With a conscious victim who is struggling to stay above water, the most important thing is to keep distance because they may be in a panic and pull the rescuer under the water, Peters said.
“They will panic, they are not thinking rationally and they will sacrifice you for the betterment of themselves,” he said. “We teach them to use a board-length distance. Coach (the struggling person) in and paddle next to them and try and keep them calm. If they do need a flotation device, give them your board, but keep the board between you and them. Stay away, let them regain their strength and catch their breath, and flag in a lifeguard.”
Waving your hand up in the air back and forth will get a lifeguard’s attention, Peters said.
The most important thing to do is call 911, or have someone call, as soon as possible and make sure you are not putting yourself in harm’s way, he said.
Hundreds of surfers have taken the S.A.L.T. training since the program started, with 65 surfers just in the high school class this week. Any group can call and inquire about scheduling lifesaving lessons.
Surf coach Andy Verdone said the Huntington Beach High surf team first went through the program five years ago. A surfer on the team then, Ethan Hurst, ended up saving a woman’s life while surfing just a few months later with the skills he learned.
“It actually works,” Verdone said. “He heard a woman screaming, ‘Help me,’ and she was out past the breakers. She started going under, he got to her and got her to shore with the lessons he learned in S.A.L.T.”
There are many hazards out in the water, and knowing his students are prepared to react gives him comfort, Verdone said.
“If we save one life, it’s worth it,” he said. “If you train surfers, then you’re actually multiplying the lifesavers you have in the surf zone.”
Surf team member Jess Razee, 16, said one of her biggest takeaways from the lesson was that a person could be drowning nearby and you may not even hear or see them as they quietly go under. Another sight that may be cause for alarm is seeing a surfer’s board “tombstoning,” or sticking straight up with the nose to the sky.
“We learned what to look for,” Razee said following the lesson on the beach.
Sara Freyre, a 16-year-old NSSA open division national champion, said she didn’t previously know the right way to get an unconscious person onto a surfboard.
Lifeguards taught the class to put their board upside down with the fins up, drape the person’s body onto the board and then use a knee or foot to help flip the board over so the person is fully on the surfboard. Then, the rescuer can maneuver their body to get behind the victim and ride the whitewash to shore.
“I did not know this technique, I think it’s very cool to be able to be aware and help someone in need and not make things worse,” Freyre said. “I feel a lot more prepared and ready just in case anything happens.”
Newport Beach Marine Safety Chief Brian O’Rourke adopted Huntington’s program in 2019, with a pause on the training during the pandemic. Last year, lifeguards again started holding S.A.L.T. classes for local high school and college surf teams.
O’Rourke said a Newport Harbor High surf coach and one of the students saved someone last year off 28th Street using lessons from the class.
“There has been incidents where it has been proven to save people’s lives,” O’Rourke said. “It’s great the surfing community is really embracing it, too. People know if you spend time in the ocean, you’re going to come across people in danger and if you’re trained, you can really make a difference.”
For surfers, he added, it’s training they can take around the world if they seek out remote waves, especially in impoverished areas that may not have lifeguards.
“Things go wrong real quickly when you’re surfing,” O’Rourke said. “A lot of people, they push themselves and surfing, although it’s a great sport to recreate and promotes a healthy lifestyle, it’s dangerous also. You can take action and hopefully render assistance to somebody who may not have a good outcome if a trained person wasn’t there.”
Peters said he hopes the S.A.L.T. program continues to spread among lifeguards and surfers.
“We’re not looking for recognition for the class, we just want to spread it to as many lifeguard agencies as possible and have them teach it to their local communities,” he said of the potential to reach across the country and beyond. “If someone ends up learning the techniques and makes a difference for someone, it’s worth it.”
