Beach Safety Tips

• Learn Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). In the time it might take for lifeguards or paramedics to arrive, your CPR skills could save someone’s life.

• Avoid drinking alcohol before or during swimming, boating, or water skiing.

• Heed warning flags. Know the meaning of and obey warnings represented by colored beach flags, which may vary from one beach to another.

• Know the terrain. Be aware of and avoid drop-offs and hidden obstacles in natural water sites. Always enter water feet first.

• Avoid rip currents. Watch for dangerous waves and signs of rip currents, like water that is discolored and choppy, foamy, or filled with debris and moving in a channel away from shore. If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to shore; once free of the current, swim diagonally toward shore.

• Look for lifeguards. Select swimming sites that have lifeguards whenever possible.

• Don’t hyperventilate. Swimmers should never hyperventilate before swimming underwater or try to hold their breath for long periods of time. This can cause them to pass out (sometimes called “shallow water blackout”) and drown.