After incidents, Virginia Beach reviews lifeguard service

VIRGINIA BEACH

In mid-August, a lifeguard supervisor driving a pick up on the beach ran over a sunbather.

The lifeguard made a 15-second radio call (hear audio of the call) to request an ambulance for "neck and back" injuries. The responding Emergency Medical Services crew came prepared to provide basic first aid.

But when they arrived, they found a victim "suffering from significant crush injuries" who needed advanced life support, according to Thomas Green, a division chief with the city's EMS department.

"The under-reporting of this incident directly related to significant delays in proper patient care," Green wrote in a memo to his boss.

At least five times this summer, the "underreporting" or "inadequate description" of injuries by Beach lifeguards caused delayed EMS responses or resulted in paramedics being under prepared for the type of assistance needed, according to documents from the city's EMS and police departments obtained by The Virginian-Pilot under the Freedom of Information Act.

The reporting hasn't resulted in any deaths, but the issue, along with an ongoing concern about unmanned lifeguard stands, has provoked Virginia Beach officials to review the city's roughly $1.4 million-per-year contract with the private Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service. The contract is set to expire in October 2011.

"We need to re-evaluate the contract, the management and the actual quality of service provided to the beach-going public," Councilman Jim Wood said. "I'm not going to say our visitors aren't safe, but I think it could be safer."

The Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service provides trained lifeguards at the resort area and at beaches in Sandbridge, Little Island, Croatan and Fort Story. It's one of the few private lifeguard companies left in the country. Its contracts say guards' duties include rescuing swimmers, looking for lost children and reporting and treating injuries.

Overall, guards do a great job of keeping beach goers safe, said company President Kent Hinnant, whose father was a founder of the Lifesaving Service in 1930.

"We've had a very successful year," he said. "We had a few bumps in the road, but overall I think we had an outstanding summer."

Last year, there were 1.4 million overnight visitors to Virginia Beach between May and September, according the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. Beach goers expect lifeguard services, said Pam Lingle, a spokeswoman for the bureau.

Yet, empty lifeguard stands have been an ongoing issue.

This summer, there were more than 160 instances of unoccupied lifeguard stations, according to city documents. As a result, the city is docking the Lifesaving Service $24,393. Depending on circumstances, each violation can cost the company $100 to $150, according to the contract.

That's an improvement over 2005, when the service was docked $50,200.

That year, EMS officials were concerned that understaffing had become "extremely severe," according to documents from the city official overseeing the lifeguard contract.

The city noted that on at least one day in August, 19 of the 42 resort stands were left vacant as were all of the eight Little Island stands.

The service does it s best to staff every station, but that gets more difficult in August and September when the younger lifeguards return to school, Hinnant said. After Aug. 1, the company offers an extra 50 cents an hour to entice guards to stay, he said.

"Everyone that's trained and able to work, we put out there," he said. "And we've never had any problems. There's never been any incident that's been attributed to not having a lifeguard on the stand that time of year."

In 2008, lifeguards made 351 rescues; one person drowned, according to the United States Lifesaving Association.

This summer, three people drowned at the Oceanfront. One person died while body boarding, one person died after falling off a boat, and the third drowned at night.

Lifeguard staffing has always been a problem, especially toward the end of the summer, said Councilman John Uhrin, who represents the Beach district.

"If you take a look at the drownings, that's the bottom line, if that's the barometer," Uhrin said. "They've done a pretty good job."

Uhrin said he hasn't received complaints from visitors or the public about safety at the beach which would cause him to take a look at the service.

"Part of our strength, is that we're able to promote legitimately a very clean, very safe beach," Uhrin said.

Almost two months after being struck by the lifeguard's truck, Ryan Horne is still recovering, said his friend, James Phillips, who was at the Beach with him that day.

After the truck rolled over him, Horne was hospitalized with a broken collarbone, dislocated shoulder, fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, and cuts and bruises on his face, Phillips said. He had surgery and now wears a back brace, which prohibits him from returning to his job as a Navy mechanic, Phillips said.

Horne hired a lawyer, but has not filed suit, according to court records. He and his lawyer, James A. Howard II, declined to comment.

City officials, including Green, have criticized how the truck driver, a 27-year-old lifeguard supervisor, handled the situation. She didn't tell dispatch that she'd run over Horne and didn't report the incident to police.

EMS Deputy Chief Bill Kiley said the lifeguard under reported the incident. "It wasn't an injury," he said. "Somebody was run over by a car."

The incident, "leads to the suspicion that there's more out there," Kiley added.

But the lifeguard company president, Hinnant, said he's satisfied with how the lifeguard handled the situation. The guard has worked for the service for 10 years, is a trained paramedic and has completed emergency vehicle operation training, he said.

"She did what she thought was right at the time based on what she could see," Hinnant said. "Her main objective at the time was to provide assistance to the individual that was injured."

The matter has been turned over to the Lifesaving Service's insurance, he said.

In another case this summer, the way a lifeguard reported a 12-year-old girl's near drowning at Little Island Park delayed her treatment, city documents say.

The initial report to EMS was that the girl "was having difficulty breathing," according to an e-mail from an EMS brigade chief.

She had suffered a seizure while swimming and inhaled large amounts of water.

After several exchanges with the lifeguards about the extent of her injuries, EMS officials called for a helicopter to fly the girl to a Norfolk hospital. That was 46 minutes after she was pulled from the water.

EMS found out later from a nurse practitioner who was at the beach that the girl was blue and not breathing when she was initially rescued. The nurse had to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, information that EMS officials said would have been vital to responding appropriately.

"This incident needs to be reviewed in an effort to prevent a similar near miss in the future," the brigade chief wrote.

Lifeguards have been asked to call in all water rescues as near drownings, according to EMS officials.

But drownings bring out large volumes of rescue workers, so lifeguards try to be careful about when they report them in an effort to save city resources, Hinnant said.

Drowning is also a loaded word in a litigious society, so lifeguards may be cautious about using it, said Tom Griffiths, with the Aquatic Safety Research Group.

"Once you say drownings in our society, you put people on notice," Griffiths said. "Just because someone dies in the water, doesn't mean the person drowned."

Generally, organizations may under report to keep a safer record, Griffiths said.

Despite concerns, it would be difficult to find a private company to replace the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service, Kiley said.

Kiley acknowledges there is a perception that the city wants to take over lifeguard services, which may contribute to the reporting issue. EMS has received no direction from the city manager or council members to provide lifeguards, he added.

Hinnant's staff provides good service, Kiley said.

"Would you put your kids in the water in Virginia Beach, would you feel safe?" Kiley said. "Absolutely, because they're excellent guards."

Later this month, Hinnant and city officials will meet to review the summer and make suggestions for next year.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@ pilotonline.com

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com