OCEAN CITY, Md. - Ocean City rescue swimmers trained with Maryland Natural Resources Police near the inlet and jetty rocks Monday morning as first responders prepare for the start of the summer season.
The joint exercise focused on high-risk water rescues in one of the resort’s most challenging areas. Crews practiced putting rescue swimmers into the inlet, moving a victim through the water, coordinating with a boat crew and bringing that person back to safety.
Ryan Whittington with the Ocean City Fire Department warns the inlet creates hazards for both victims and rescuers.
“When a victim is in distress in the inlet, there are only minutes that we have to get them to bring them to safety,” Whittington said.
Whittington said the department wanted to practice the full response process, from the 911 call to getting a victim back to the Coast Guard station for EMS care. He said the inlet can appear calm from the shore, but strong current, commercial fishing vessels, jet skis and recreational boats can all complicate a rescue.
The training comes less than a week before Memorial Day weekend, when Ocean City expects more people on the beach, near the rocks and on the water.
“We are going to see our beaches packed with individuals,” Whittington said. “We’re going to see individuals swimming near the jetty rocks. We’re going to see individuals falling off the rocks, unfortunately.”
Ocean City Battalion Chief Darrick Elliott described the inlet as a “high risk, low volume” rescue area. He said emergencies there do not happen often, but crews need to be ready when they do.
Elliott said one scenario involved a person being pulled out by a rip current and ending up in the inlet or farther offshore. In that case, he said a rescue swimmer may use the current to get to the victim, keep that person calm and wait for a boat to assist.
“Lots of times when people are pulled out by a rip current or are pulled out against their will, they panic,” Elliott said. “Part of our job is to calm and reassure.”
Georgia Speier with the Ocean City Fire Department said the inlet is one of the department’s highest-risk areas because conditions change with the tides. She said rescue swimmers need to be familiar with those conditions before a real emergency.
“We don’t want the first time one of our rescue swimmers to get into the Ocean City Inlet to be when they’re making a rescue and someone’s life is in danger,” Speier said.
Speier said the department regularly trains with its own rescue swimmers, dive team and boat operators, but multi-agency training is also important. She said Natural Resources Police boats are often already on the water and may be among the fastest resources to reach an emergency.
First responders are reminding people to use caution around the inlet, stay off the jetty rocks when possible and call 911 immediately if someone is in trouble.
