beachgoers, the sense that our beachfront
is truly a safe place to visit for people of
all ages and families with young children
is because of the devotion of Chief
Westerman and his well-trained staff.
Leaning on a credenza just under the
window with the pristine view, is a huge
plaque. Westerman grabs it and places
it on the desk between us, then he says:
“My goal for a long time has been to win
this award. There have been years that
we could have applied, but we waited.
We wanted to be truly ready for it.” The
plaque proclaims Manatee County Marine
Rescue is 2017 Beach Patrol of the Year,
a prestigious award given by the Florida
Beach Patrol Chief’s Association.
“The competition was tough. We were
up against Miami Beach, Del Ray Beach,
and a few other big names,” Westerman
explains. But their commitment to
education and training shows in the
numbers. To give an idea of the scope
of what Beach Patrol (formerly known as
Marine Rescue) does on a daily basis,
here are some impressive stats. In 2016
there was an estimate of 2,675,000 visitors
to Manatee Public Beach and Coquina
Beach. The Beach Patrol Division handled
3,075 medical emergencies, 21,002
beach incidents, issued 86,412 ordinance
violations, prevented accidents with
warnings 16,847 times, and performed
84 water rescues. Just in one year.
How do they do it?
Westerman has a crew of 16 full-time
lifeguard positions comprised of the
following members listed with their
specialties:
Collin Schmidt, Lieutenant/EMT
Karl Payne, Lieutenant/EMT
David Snyder, Lifeguard/EMT
Marshall Greene, Lifeguard/EMT
Jack Bratcher, Lifeguard/EMT
Karen Burkett, Lifeguard/EMT
David Julius, Lifeguard/EMT
Lianna Sandburg, Lifeguard/EMT
Jay Millard, Lifeguard/Paramedic
Erik Logan, Lifeguard/Paramedic
Chelsea Hart, Lifeguard
Cole Ross, Lifeguard
Johnny Cromwell, Lifeguard
Morgan Bakulski, Lifeguard
AJ Nelson, Lifeguard
The division works closely with the
Manatee County Sherriff’s department,
often sharing equipment and manpower.
The Beach Patrol Division answers 9-1-
1 dispatched water and land-borne
emergencies on the island because of
their elevated standards of training. These
men and women also played a huge role
in keeping people safe before, during, and
after Hurricane Irma in September of 2017.
These lifeguards are a diverse group,
which includes ve females. And these
aren’t just lifeguards. Each person, as
indicated above, has special additional
training. The list of employment and
course requirements is long and taken
very seriously.
Each year lifeguards must undergo
additional training as well as pass
requalication by swimming 500 meters
in under ten minutes and perform a timed
100-yard rescue.
The lifeguards are competent to respond
to any kind of emergency situation, be it a
lost child, boating accident, or domestic
issue. One of the major situations, of
course, is a water rescue. “Drowning
deaths can be prevented 100% of the
time,” Westerman states.
“It’s important that beachgoers be aware
of the conditions, which can change in
mere moments and seconds can save
lives. We are happy when we see a
season end with 200 rescues, but we’d
rather see a season with ZERO rescues
because no one needed rescuing.”
There are currently eight lifeguard towers in
operation and at each, the lifeguards utilize
a colored ag system to let visitors know, at
a glance, what local water conditions are.
Like trafc signals, green means go and
yellow means caution. Red means only
strong swimmers should be in the water.
A double red ag means O SWIMMI at
all. And a purple ag, should you ever see
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