00:00We're joined again by American Lifeguard Association spokesperson Wyatt Werneth who's here to explain
00:05what those beach flags mean and how you can stay safe in the water this week. Wyatt thanks again
00:10for joining us and with Hurricane Aaron churning offshore what's the biggest concern for lifeguards
00:14up and down the east coast right now? Hey good morning thanks for having us. Our biggest concern
00:21is people who are not experienced in the water. I'm looking at right now we have surfers are
00:27primarily what's in the water right now but even an inexperienced surfer causes us problems. So if
00:33you don't know how to swim and you're not good at surfing today's not the day to be in the water.
00:37And Wyatt I think you're going to agree with this statement this is somewhat of a dangerous hurricane
00:41a sneaky dangerous hurricane because for many beach locations the sun is going to be out over the next
00:48couple of days it seems nice but on that many people may not realize that the water is still
00:55very very dangerous for days after the storm leaves. You have that exactly right it's a beautiful day
01:04out here it's very inviting but someone who does not understand the dangers that are out here right
01:10now that is a problem you know we always like to tell everyone learn to swim America your ability
01:15to swim can save your life but when it's a situation like this if you're not experienced and you're not
01:20ready for these conditions just completely stay out is what we recommend because even on the beach
01:26side getting close to the water being ankle or knee deep you can get knocked down and swept out
01:31immediately. So we're warning everyone please stay out of the water know your limitations if you're not
01:37an experienced swimmer or surfer just don't go in the water it'll be a much safer place where you
01:41sit back relax enjoy the beautiful weather and it's going to be a great day for everyone involved
01:46and the lifeguards won't have to jump into action so we'd appreciate that. All right for people who
01:50go into the beach they'll see flags usually every day can you tell us more about the flag warning
01:54system and what each one means? Well thanks for bringing that up because today we are flying
02:01double red flags and that means don't go swimming so the flag system was created to be a lot like a
02:07traffic signal greens low hazard go not so bad yellow use caution which you can use caution every day
02:14and then a single red is pretty much a high hazard but when we do a double red that means don't go in
02:21the water because we recognize it not only to be a high hazard but to be extremely dangerous.
02:27And from a lifeguards perspective what role do red flags and no swimming advisories play
02:33and how important is that uh the public uh actually knows how is it that the public actually
02:40follows them? Well you know it's something that we have been saying for a long time know before you
02:45go and that is simply check your accurate weather check the uh conditions in the area find out where
02:50the lifeguards are swim in front of that lifeguard your chances of drowning in front of lifeguard are
02:54one in 18 million especially on a day like this we're going to put out the warnings it's important
02:59to heed the warnings beware when we're flying flags you're hearing about all the rip current dangers or
03:04hurricanes nearby that's when you need to take caution and pay attention to the warning signs that
03:10we have out there. All right we're a spokesperson for the American Lifeguard Association and thank you
03:16so much for joining us we always appreciate you having here and bringing new information every time
03:19and thanks again for your expertise. Thank you guys for having me and getting the message out there
03:24stay safe America.
Comments