GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The lakes of Michigan have been dangerous in 2022 with at least 33 people drowning along the coastline in Lake Michigan and 73 in the Great Lakes.
The non-profit group Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project (GLSRP) has been sounding the alarm that the lack of lifeguards is preventing these victims from being saved.
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The GLSRP is an organization whose mission is to eradicate drownings by being the leader of Great Lakes water safety with training, public preparedness and public awareness. Their vision is to make everyone in the Great Lakes region, nationwide and worldwide, knowledgeable, engaged and proactive in water safety with an emphasis on the Great Lakes region.
Four of the drownings in Lake Michigan this summer have happened in South Haven in less than a month, all of the victims dying under yellow flag warnings in which the GLSRP says “would have been routine lifeguard rescue under calm conditions.” Instead, four people have lost their lives.
GLSRP posted a reason why there are no lifeguards in South Haven on their Facebook page. The group attended every “South Haven Beach Safety Committee meeting” and report that Kate Hosier, South Haven’s City Manager said, “In 2021, we had a very exhaustive discussion…and unfortunately, lifeguards did not survive that conversation.”
And even after all of the drownings in South Haven, the city is still not considering hiring lifeguards. Hosier told News Channel 3 WWMT-TV that she doesn’t think lifeguards will be implemented any time soon. She said, “We have had multiple SHAES (South Haven Area Emergency Services) volunteers on any one day out there. We have code enforcement out there. We’ve really stepped up a lot of enforcement out there to make sure people understand what the conditions mean.”
The DNR is not considering a lifeguard program on Lake Michigan either even with all of the recent drownings. Ron Olson, Chief of Parks and Recreation for the Michigan DNR, talked with WZZM13 about the lifeguard program at state parks which was ended in the 1990’s because of liability concerns. He said, “…when you have lifeguards, there’s an implied supervision piece and things like that. The decision was made at that time to not to continue lifeguards, and then the evolution of the flag system has occurred and the educational part of it.”
There is also the issue of funding and staffing. Jamie Racklyeft, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium, implores people to be proactive about getting lifeguards in their community. She says, “Try to get your community to invest in lifeguards. There’s training available through Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project and other groups, the Red Cross. It’s doable. It’s just a matter of prioritizing safety over other things.”
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Meanwhile, headlines on Michigan television news stations and reports all over the radio waves lately continue to report one drowning after another in Lake Michigan waters – from Milwaukee Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois to the shores of South Haven, Michigan.
Instead of Michigan beaches having lifeguards, swimmers have to pay attention to the flag policy. According to Michigan’s DNR, the Great Lakes Beach Flag Warning System consists of a RED flag which means stop, stay on the beach, do not enter the water and do not swim. The YELLOW flag means caution and watch for dangerous currents and high waves. The GREEN flag means go, you can enter the water but stay aware of changing conditions.
One Facebook user commented on the drownings in South Haven with a warning.
Cait M. Clift said for the beaches to “Stop using yellow flags! It’s either safe or it’s not! Green or red!”
David Benjamin, Executive Director of GLSRP wants real-time flag changes so that they are taken seriously. However, even with a better and more consistent measure of the danger of swimming, how can the waters possibly be monitored by the government for safety on a minute-by-minute basis or even an hourly basis?
What it comes down to is that Michigan swimmers are swimming at their own risk because most of the 1,220 Michigan beaches with thousands of miles of shoreline lack lifeguards. Michigan has the nation’s longest freshwater coastline but the state and local governments aren’t ponying up the money to protect their local community or their tourists, resulting in the most drownings in Lake Michigan this year since 2013.
While the GLSRP promotes personal responsibility, they also want responsibility from local city officials, county officials, state officials and DNR officials that all “oppose commonly accepted best practices of having lifeguards on public beaches, state park beaches and national park beaches.”
On their Facebook page, GLSRP says that the Beach Flag System is “not a replacement for lifeguards.” It is a tool for lifeguards to use, not a replacement for them. They call the foundation of the Beach Flag System in the state of Michigan “inappropriate, improper and inadequate.”
In the book “Drowning Prevention, Rescue, Treatment” by Joost J.L.M Bierens, it states, “While flags may help reduce the incidence of injury and drowning, they cannot assist those in distress. Therefore, these flags are only to be used on beaches where qualified lifesavers are on duty. Flags are not an acceptable substitute for properly trained and equipped rescuers, but rather a tool for their use.”
Lifeguards save lives. It’s that simple. It’s why they are called Lifeguards.
Ten years of reports from the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) has led them to calculate that there is only a one in 18 million chance of drowning at a USLA guarded beach.
Unfortunately, even though Michigan is spending millions on the Pure Michigan tourism campaign, the state and local communities don’t seem to be dedicating their money to protecting those tourists
once they show up at Michigan beaches.
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