SURFING SOAPBOX: More lifeguards, not luck, will save lives

A “Good Samaritan jumps into the water to save three cousins from tide pool that blasted them with water and dragged one in[“Teens saved from tide pool,” June 20].” Correct me if I am wrong, but how many times have we in Laguna read a headline similar to that?

My answer is way too many — and what about the alternative headline, “Three cousins drown.”

Think for a moment here and ponder if it were your family and they had drowned at the paradise-like beaches of Laguna. Accidents happen.

It was said the first police officer responding to this near-drowning was in a car accident and that is in part why it took 15 minutes or more for help to arrive.

However, let me ask you this, when is the last time a police officer jumped in the ocean to save someone? No offense, but it isn’t in their job description and there might not be someone to go in for them if they did. I’m just saying, in a city with seven miles of coastline to protect and guard, 15 minutes is way too long when we’re talking about saving a life.

Maybe it’s time our city gets its priorities in order.

Especially given that it is our beaches that provide our city its No. 1 attraction, not to mention its No. 1 revenue stream.

Perhaps it’s time for our city to begin giving back to the very thing (the beaches) that makes Laguna so special, before we lose one because of the lack of city funding for our lifeguards.

How many more times our we going to be lucky enough that another Good Samaritan jumps in (pun intended) to not only save the day but to save another life?

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com