Lost and Found

by Kailey Aiken

There always seems to be one weekend towards the end of August when the weather behaves, and the beach fills up like the Fourth of July because everyone wants to get one last beach day in before the school year.

This year, it seems that was last weekend. Luckily the rough waters held off until Tuesday, but lifeguards were still kept plenty busy without the added challenge of big waves.

Unfortunately, with the crowds, we also saw a rise in the number of missing kids especially on Beach 97th Street on Sunday. With the beach so packed, you could barely see the sand — and the towels, chairs, and umbrellas create quite a maze for young children. It’s like Times Square with waves. If a kid loses sight of their parent for more than 10 seconds, they can easily disappear into the crowd.

When we’re dealing with a missing child situation, our protocol depends on whether we have the child or the parent. If we have the child, things are a little easier. Nine times out of 10 the parent will approach another lifeguard chair once they realize their child is missing and we can quickly reunite the family.

If we have the parent but not the child, things can be a little more complicated. We’ll take down the child’s information including name, gender, age, hair color, what they’re wearing, and whatever else the parent can tell us to help identify the child. We’ll send a signal down the line to alert the rest of the lifeguards of the situation and everyone will keep their eye out for the child. If he or she was last seen in the water, we will perform a shallow water sweep.

We typically find the child and return them to their parents within 30 minutes. However, we have had cases where a child starts walking one way and doesn’t stop, so it takes us longer to locate them. Last year, for example, we had a little girl walk from Beach 97th Street to Beach 116th Street. The search included lifeguards, police, and even a helicopter. Once lifeguards from 106 Shack found her walking alone with only her boogie board in tow near Beach 116th, she received an escort back to Beach 97th by lifeguards, supervisors, cops, and even a police chief.

Her mom was so relieved when she returned that she fainted on the spot, for the third time since her daughter went missing.

On some other beaches, I’ve seen signs with symbols like shells, waves, and fish at beach entrances to be used as markers for lost children to help them remember where their family set up. I believe the idea is that you point out the symbol to the child when you arrive, tell them, for example, “Remember, we’re at the beach with the shell sign,” and if they were to go missing, they can tell lifeguards that they remember they were near the entrance with a shell symbol. I’m not sure if this would work well in Rockaway, but maybe something like it could be added by entrances to our busier beaches.

Every parent is afraid of losing sight of their kids, and it happens more easily than you think on a busy weekend when the sand turns into a sea of umbrellas. A little preparation, like pointing out landmarks that are already here, like the concessions, the shack, jetties, or amphitheater, might save everyone a lot of panic and time. Lifeguards will always be here to do our part, but the faster we can return kids to families, the better for everyone.