DELMARVA BEACHES - Even though it's March, and the beaches along Delmarva's Atlantic shoreline are mostly empty, come this summer, millions will descend on the beaches. Beaches that need to be protected by one of the most important first response organizations on the peninsula - lifeguards.
In recent years, it has been a challenge recruiting lifeguards - but for a surprising reason.
"Our applicant pool has has not necessarily dropped in recent years, but what has dropped is the availability of housing," said Joe Donnelly with the Bethany Beach Patrol. "For us here locally, that is one of our biggest obstacles that we face each and every year."
During the COVID pandemic, due to various local and national policy changes, far fewer seasonal workers were hired than usual. The seasonal rentals that these workers lived in were converted to weekly rentals.
At Assateague State Park in Maryland, the beach patrol, which seeks to hire about 15 to 17 new lifeguards this year, focuses its recruitment efforts locally, where folks already have homes.
"So basically what we do we we just recruit at the local area high schools, colleges, swim teams," said Patrick Marshall, supervisor of the Assateague State Park Beach Patrol. "We're looking for young professional type people that are maybe looking for a little bit of flexibility."
Ocean City, Maryland, which employs more than 200 lifeguards, has more resources at its disposal to provide incentives to new recruits.
"We provide some housing for first year people in conjunction with the Ocean City Development Corporation to try and get over that hurdle a little bit," said Lt. Ward Kovacs of the Ocean City Beach Patrol.
But Ocean City is still feeling the pinch - looking farther afield for recruits.
"In November we were up in Canada. It was the first time I've ever driven across a country line in a city vehicle before," Kovacs said.
The housing problem, however, is a bigger concern in the smaller beach communities in Delaware, which typically have smaller beach patrols than Ocean City, but still have a lot of work to do.
"I'm not worried about our staff this year necessarily," Donnelly said. "However, the issues that have come up have really centered around housing, and that's something I'm more worried about for the future."
In 2023, the Bethany Beach Patrol responded to 450 water rescues.
While there are no solutions to the housing problem on the horizon, many of Delmarva's beach patrols have increased incentives for lifeguards to join their forces, with offers of signing or re-signing bonuses, rental assistance, and pay starting at anywhere from $18 to $20 per hour for new hires.