Surf Safety Series

[pmcaero]

Wow two things of consider importance here as we don't want to lose anyone.

pmcaero, a family history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol , ok it have you been checked for your levels.

my cholesterol was pretty borderline over the years, but I have let myself get out of shape last two years so it's probably bad now. I guess it's time for a physical.
Blood pressure has always been OK, but that can change with age.

[jaffa1949]

Look after yourself , you are the only one of your type on board here! Apply your engineering mind to doing that

[pmcaero]

Look after yourself , you are the only one of your type on board here! Apply your engineering mind to doing that

haha thanks, but since I upgraded to a Torq I'm not unique anymore

[jaffa1949]

Hey pmcaero, don’t get your bits frozen off by the polar vortex. .

[pmcaero]

Hey pmcaero, don’t get your bits frozen off by the polar vortex. .

Don't worry, I didn't go out during the cold windy days with waves. I'm a weekend warrior nowadays

[dtc]

Part 3: So you’re in the water, and something happens. A fellow surfer suffers a heart attack, or suffers a bad cut, or is knocked unconscious and floating underwater, or, god forbid, is attacked by a shark.

What are your priorities?

(see if you can come up with the first 4 things to do before you have a read of the answer. Suspect most people will forget no 1)

https://www.coastalwatch.com/surfing/la ... ou-do-next

[surferbee]

After watching the vid, the only additional suggestion I'd make is that the helper(s) can delegate to other people in the water to take action, such as telling one or two other surfers to head to the beach and call the EMTs to speed up their response time. Too often, people will be shocked or caught off guard in an emergency and not know what to do. Rather than relying on people to come and help on their own, it can be good to tell people how to help. I've seen other people take the lead in an emergency situation with good results and it always stuck with me.

[jaffa1949]

Couldn’t agree more the help,of willing, knowledgeable calm people, who came accept Delegation can real bring a good result1

[BoMan]

See if you can come up with the first 4 things to do before you have a read of the answer. Suspect most people will forget no 1.

You are right. My first priority would have been to make sure the person's head was out of the water.

I surf alone at a weekday lineup that's usually empty during the winter. My wife has the details of where I am and I call her from the parking lot before and after my sessions....but if anything bad happens there's not much to be done. As the article says, surfing is dangerous. I respect the ocean's power, stay within my limits, and avoid situations that will get me into trouble. So far so good.

[oldmansurfer]

Most of the time I am already familiar with the conditions and dangers in the area I am in so I would be quick to move on to the next thing. Usually I am surfing alone so it makes it unlikely that I would ever need to save anyone while surfing.

[dtc]

Part 4: how to get an injured or unconscious surfer onto your surfboard so you can take him/her into shore.

I think a really vital skill, CPR and this. So worth a few minutes to have a read

https://www.coastalwatch.com/surfing/25 ... tant-skill

Looks like Nick picked up on surferbee's comment about sending others ahead to call emergency!

[billie_morini]

I am probably at high risk for dying according to that article. I am older, I surf alone a lot, I surf in waves that can have some serious consequences occasionally (however not often enough for me lately). My safety in the ocean comes from being in good health and good fitness and knowing the dangers and how to mitigate them and knowing my limits. I go to the doctor for regular checkups and my blood pressure and bloodwork are always normal. The good health part is a conscious effort to try to eat a reasonably healthy diet and to not smoke and to not drink to excess. I work at my fitness and instead of resting like RinyDink I condition myself to work with less oxygen. I often don't have an opportunity to rest and need to get out of the impact zone so what is needed is the ability to continue when I am winded so I hike up a hill a few times a week and try to get myself to that place where I feel like I need oxygen and keep it there as long as I can. The other parts are knowledge from experience. Well anyway if I quit posting I may well have died surfing or perhaps just a likely a thousand other causes of death., Unless it was euthanasia I hopefully died happy. If I should die I have no regrets....well okay I regret hurting anyone if I have and I am sure that is likely >>...No I don't have any plans of dying soon.

Ol' Man, It's easy to relate to surfing alone and surfing waves that may have serious consequence. The "alone" part reminds me I also drink alone! (sounds of George Thorogood & The Destroyers playing in my head).

[oldmansurfer]

Ol' Man, It's easy to relate to surfing alone and surfing waves that may have serious consequence. The "alone" part reminds me I also drink alone! (sounds of George Thorogood & The Destroyers playing in my head).

I love that song. I drink alone too but not as much as George Thorogood. Like my surfing I drink responsibly

[surferbee]

In case you enjoyed the previous ones, looks like the last episodes in the series have posted: https://www.coastalwatch.com/surfing/surf-safety-series

One thing that surprisingly didn't get mentioned is to have a basic first-aid kit with you for less serious issues. In the past year or so, I've broken mine out for other surfers twice for surfing-related injuries. And just last week, I took a fin to the face and had to break out my kit at the beach. Unfortunately, I found out too late that I didn't have any butterfly bandages and had to cut down a bunch of band-aids. (but I'm restocked now!) By the time I got to urgent care, the doctor said I had done a great job prepping the wound and didn't have to do anything except stitch it up. A week later, the stitches are out and the scar is barely visible.

I imagine most of the regulars on here already keep a kit in their cars, but hopefully this is a useful reminder to know what's in it and how to use it.

[dtc]

I imagine most of the regulars on here already keep a kit in their cars, but hopefully this is a useful reminder to know what's in it and how to use it.

You would imagine (he says as he looks up Red Cross first aid kits...again)

Fortunately i surf near a pharmacy. (drug store for the uncivilised). I'm sure that will cover all my needs

As an aside. Waikikichan's latest blog entry highlights a lesser but more common danger - http://alohaki.jugem.jp/?eid=716 (and he looks, well, cute in that hooded wettie!)

[tomthetreeman]

A friend of mine that does safety talks to arborists around the world has a good two part question for his groups:

“How many of you have a first aid kit in your truck, raise your hand.” (Everyone)

“How many of you know what’s in it?” (Rhetorical, but very few.)