WAIPOULI – Lt. Kleve Zarbaugh of the Kaua’i Fire Department’s Office of Ocean Safety said the area just outside the Lava Lava Beach Club at the Kaua’i Shores Hotel is an area where they have had rescues in the past.
Zarbaugh was speaking to about 30 Kaua’i Shores hotel associates on Tuesday during an ocean safety briefing coordinated by Kaua’i Federal Credit Union business development manager Chantal Zarbaugh and Jennie Waiwaiole- Vega, General Manager of Kaua’i Shores Hotel, partner of Kaua’i FCU Lokahi.
“It’s almost the same Water Awareness Visitor Education (WAVE) program we did for resorts before the pandemic shut everything down,” Kleve Zarbaugh said at the monthly employee luncheon. of Kaua’i Shores.
“WAVE makes sure that staff and management understand how important it is to encourage everyone – not just visitors – to swim at supervised beaches, how unpredictable the ocean is and what you should do if anyone has problems.”
OSB shared statistics in the presentation to reflect current trends given the easing of travel restrictions related to COVID-19 and the growing number of visitors to the island.
“In 2018 we had nine drownings in Kaua’i,” said Kleve Zarbaugh. “That rose to 17 drownings in 2019, just before the pandemic hit. As the island tightened following the arrival of the pandemic, the number of drownings in 2020 fell to just three. They were residents of Kaua’i. When things started to open up in 2021, the number of drownings also increased, to six. Today, we are not even halfway through the year, and we have already lost three people. These are only the most recent ones I can think of.
Chantal Zarbaugh, wife of Kleve Zarbaugh, said after discussing recent water tragedies with Waiwaiole-Vega, OSB should educate staff so they are armed with ocean safety tips that could potentially save a life. .
“It’s important for me to be socially aware of what’s going on, to support our rescuers and to be part of the solution,” said Chantal Zarbaugh. “I personally feel it is our responsibility to inform and do something to help reduce the risk of tragedy in our community with regards to our beaches.”
OSB interacted with over two million visitors to Kaua’i beach in 2019, performing 297 rescues, 30 personal watercraft rescues, 119,672 preventative actions and 1,739 first aid responses.
In 2020, that number fell to just over a million visitors to the beach, with OSB acting on 122 rescues, 16 waterskiing rescues, 38,878 preventive actions and 1,432 first aid interventions.
With the pandemic’s grip loosening in 2021, the OSB met nearly 1.5 million beach visitors, carried out 274 rescues, 40 boat rescues by roving patrols, 57,716 preventive actions and 1,915 first aid interventions.
“The best thing you can do for your guests is to make sure they get the beach safety awareness brochure,” Kleve Zarbaugh said. “We need to get them to go through the brochure.”
Waiwaiole-Vega said Kaua’i Shores used to have brochures in every room for guests, but due to COVID-19 the cards cannot be in the rooms. Instead, the brochures are now available at reception when checking in customers.
“We need people like you to help us spread ocean safety awareness, to help save lives, and to express gratitude to our Office of Ocean Safety lifeguards for all they do for our community,” said Chantal Zarbaugh.
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Denis Fujimotowriter and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or [email protected]
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