Splashes of local service

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a four-part series about Newport Beach lifeguards.

Lifeguards say this was a slow summer, but it had its moments like when lifeguards John Graass and Ryan Carroll saved a first-time surfer who suffered a deep gash to his upper thigh.

Graass and Carroll quickly laid the victim down to slow the bleeding and applied pressure to the wound until paramedics arrived. With their help, the victim was home within three days after an accident that could have killed him.

Rescues like those were celebrated Thursday at the 10th annual Newport Beach Fire and Lifeguard Appreciation Party.

Held at the Newport Dunes Waterfront and put on by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Commodores Club, the event drew throngs of folks looking to applaud local rescue workers.

Lifeguard of the Year Brent Jacobsen has been with the department since 1983. He became a full-time guard in 1994 and supervises the Lifeguard Rescue Boat Division.

There were few high-profile saves between the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends, so the most exciting point for Jacobsen this year was probably getting the new Sea Watch II christened for duty even though he hasn’t had much chance to drive it yet.

“It’s always great to be honored by your peers,” Jacobsen said, but it’s a team effort that keeps the guards doing what they do well.

It’s guys like Maintenance Crew Chief Andy Martinez who keep Jacobsen doing his job well, he said. “He keeps the boats working,” so they can make the saves, Jacobsen said.

Another of those behind-the-scenes characters is Civilian Employee Linda Foeldi. Organization is her middle name, many of the guards agreed, as Foeldi has tended to paperwork in the EMS Division since 2001.

“You don’t know how many times she has bailed me out,” Jacobsen said.

“It’s a rewarding job, never a dull moment,” Foeldi said.

Firefighter of the Year Jerry Strom has been with the department for 43 years, much of which has been spent in arson investigations. He also helps the department’s Junior Firefighter program and Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Programs, which educate kids.

Strom has volunteered as a medical captain for the past 13 years at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the annual Spirit Run, and serves on the board of the American Cancer Society’s Race for Life Survivor Committee.

Seasonal Lifeguard Ben Carlson, who has been with the division for nine years, hopes one day to become a permanent staff member.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at kelly.strodl@latimes.com.