00:00Patrol captain and lifeguard Carl Hernandez tells the Morning Edition
00:04lifeguards continue to face manpower shortages and inadequate tower facilities
00:10despite repeated promises of upgrades.
00:13Still, he stresses that his team is prepared and committed to keeping the public safe.
00:19He admonishes beachgoers to be cautious with alcohol consumption
00:23if they plan to swim and to ensure children are closely supervised.
00:27The beach is high because, as I tell them, Maracas beach is different.
00:33And the next thing is a swimmer. You will not swim out. You will swim across.
00:40So from the time I see somebody swimming out, I know these are amateur.
00:43They ain't going to swim. Anybody come to take a swim will swim down or up.
00:48And that is a mistake. I tell them that is somebody that are intoxicated
00:51who just want to show off that they can swim.
00:54They will never swim out. They will swim across.
00:56He also reminds the public to pay attention to beach flags
01:00and lifeguard instructions, particularly in areas prone to dangerous riptides.
01:06We have a lot of currents of them tied.
01:09And what we do, instead of force shooting somebody to put up a red or yellow flag,
01:14but I don't mean it's safe to be, right?
01:16Instead of putting it up, we have a lot of moving currents too.
01:18What we do, we put up red flags and advise people to be between the red flags
01:23and try to stay more inside, because as I tell them, I can't be different to any place.
01:28And if someone appears to be in difficulty, Hernandez advises raising an alarm immediately
01:34rather than attempting a rescue.
01:36If you do not know about swimming or trying to rescue somebody, ball, make an alarm.
01:45Somebody will hear you. Instead of two people jumping, make an alarm.
01:49If it's close enough that you could make some kind of chain or throw something,
01:52the hole is something different.
01:54Because what happens, you will have one victim.
01:58You will have two or three.
01:59I see it over and over.
02:00Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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