A Lifesaving Plan

Last year, 24 fatal drownings were recorded in Suffolk County, a number that is concerning in and of itself but even more alarming when you consider that it was a 60 percent increase from the year prior.

Many of these preventable deaths occurred in backyard pools and involved young children, and others occurred in open water or bathtubs.

What circumstances could have led to such an increase, and what can be done to move the needle in the opposite direction? The Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Action Plan seeks to get to the bottom of these questions and others.

Unveiled this summer and spearheaded by Stony Brook Children’s Hospital and the national water safety nonprofits ZAC Foundation and ZAC Foundation, the plan was developed to reduce the frequency of drownings through raising awareness of water safety among children and adults and by developing the lifeguard workforce in the county.

On the South Fork, which has water on three sides and many ponds, and where backyard pools are plentiful, drowning risk feels especially acute.

Pool owners can do their part by remaining vigilant and ensuring they have the appropriate fences, childproof gates, splash alarms and door alarms. And anyone can engage personal responsibility by refraining from swimming at an unprotected beach. But growing the lifeguard workforce to meet the needs of the region will be a heavier lift that will require many governments and agencies to work together.

Just last week, the Southampton Town Parks And Recreation Department announced that lifeguards would be on duty during the first two weekends of September at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays and Long Beach in Noyac — but, three hours later, the town revised the announcement to rescind the lifeguard coverage at Long Beach.

Providing any lifeguard protection after Labor Day is a challenge that is not easy to overcome. Local lifeguards are often teachers or students, and they conclude their summer jobs before the new academic year begins. So even if governments have the funding and inclination to provide bathers with lifeguard protection well into September — when the days are still fairly long and the bays and ocean can be inviting on a warm day — staffing the lifeguard stands isn’t necessarily possible. At least that’s the case right now.

The Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Action Plan calls for funding for lifeguard workforce creation and development and to incentives to professionalize the role of lifeguard. Exactly how these goals will be met is still to be articulated, but the Suffolk County Drowning Prevention Alliance is pointing municipalities in the right direction.

Lifeguarding on the East End will always be a coveted summer job, but it can be more than that, too.