OCEAN CITY, Md. — Summer is in full effect, which means the beaches are packed with visitors. But the biggest threat to anyone swimming at the beach isn鈥檛 a shark or a jellyfish or anything else swimming in the water 鈥� it鈥檚 a riptide.
鈥淢ore people die in rip currents than die in tornadoes or hurricanes, or a lot of other big weather events,鈥� said Ocean City Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin, who points out that that’s聽even more astonishing when you consider that 鈥渕any of our states can鈥檛 even have rip currents because they don鈥檛 have an ocean.鈥�
But while Arbin knows how dangerous riptides are, he also knows how preventable such drownings can be.
鈥淣inety-five percent of all the drownings that occur here in Ocean City, Maryland, over my 44 years, 95 percent have occurred when we鈥檙e not on duty,鈥� Arbin said.
If someone swims聽when lifeguards are on duty, he said, “they may be one of our 2 to 4,000聽rescues that summer. But the good news is they鈥檝e been rescued.鈥�
If you do find yourself struggling with a rip current taking you away from the beach, Arbin says, you just need to remember the letters R-I-P:
R stands for relax. 鈥淒on鈥檛 panic,鈥� Arbin said. 鈥淩ip currents do not pull you under. They may appear as though the person is being pulled under but that鈥檚 simply because the rip current pulls the person away from the beach and as they get in deeper and deeper water they can鈥檛 keep their head above water if they鈥檙e not a good swimmer.鈥�
I stands for I need help. 鈥淚ndicate you need assistance 鈥� not panic, but just kind of wave your arm, 鈥楬ey, I need some help,鈥欌�� Arbin said. He adds that聽a lifeguard will come out and quickly get you if that鈥檚 what happens.
P stands for parallel. “And that鈥檚 the real critical thing,鈥� Arbin explained.聽 鈥淏ecause rip currents are not very wide and you鈥檙e being pulled out away from shore, [so] trying to swim straight in is like running on a treadmill. You don鈥檛 get anywhere but you wear yourself out.”
鈥淢any a good swimmer has drowned in a rip current because they simply exhaust themselves to the point that they don鈥檛 have enough energy to keep their head above water, they slip below the surface of the water, and they simply suffocate.
鈥淲hereas if they don鈥檛 panic, turn to the north or turn to the south, and swim parallel to the beach, they鈥檙e going to be out of the rip current in not too many yards and then they can make their way back into the beach,” Arbin said.
He聽says trained professionals like the lifeguards on the beach can spot a rip current before you even dip your toes in the water. Part of it is the view they get from their elevated seats, but it’s also because they鈥檙e going to be more familiar with the stretch of beach, and thus more aware of the formation of the sand underwater. But there are factors聽beachgoers聽can look for.
鈥淲hen waves break, they make the white foam, so the foam is going to flow out with the rip currents,鈥� Arbin said. 鈥淵ou may see a strip of white foamy water going away from the beach, or as the waves break they churn up the bottom and make sandy water 鈥� you鈥檒l see a sandy strip going out. It looks different than the surrounding waters.鈥�
Not only are riptides not very wide, they only flow as far out as the sandbar, which in most places won鈥檛 be too far away from shore. They won鈥檛 take swimmers聽way out to the deep sea, Arbin adds.
