A strong rip current can move at about three feet per second \u2014 as fast as an Olympic swimmer in a 50-meter sprint \u2014 according to Sea Grant researchers in Florida.<\/p>\n
So, when it comes to rip currents, everyone is equal. “I have rescued people of all ages, all swimming abilities and all sizes. They all can get caught in a rip current,” Sanderson explains.<\/p>\n
Kitty Hawk’s ocean rescue team provides safety lessons and monitors water conditions. Photos by Kitty Hawk Ocean Rescue.<\/p><\/div>\n
The same is true in other beach towns. “Rip currents occur throughout the year, but the biggest problems are in tourist season \u2014 they (tourists) don’t know what to look for, what they can get themselves into,” Best says.<\/p>\n
Each year, about 100 fatalities nationwide are attributed to rip currents \u2014 and overall, officials estimate that 80 percent of all ocean rescues by lifeguards involve rip currents. In fact, the U.S. Lifesaving Association annually tallies more than 22,000 rescues nationwide that can be linked to rip currents. That total may not include rescues by other beachgoers, police and rescue squads.<\/p>\n
Best tells of one day a few years back, when five people on plastic rafts and other floats were caught in a rip current not far from Topsail Island’s northern tip.<\/p>\n
While the rescue team members, each wearing a life jacket, were helping that crowd, another emergency was reported less than a mile away. So, Best headed to the second location.<\/p>\n
“Nine people were in the water, making a human chain to help one person caught in the rip, but those at the end of the chain were getting pulled away,” Best recalls. “We gathered them and took them parallel to the beach.”<\/p>\n
Swimming parallel to shore \u2014 rather than fighting the rip current \u2014is a focus of the educational efforts. Most trouble spots are less than 30 feet wide.<\/p>\n
If you cannot swim across the rip current, float calmly until it dissipates, usually just beyond the breakers \u2014 then swim diagonally to shore. “If you cannot swim, stay in wading depths close to shore,” Rogers advises.<\/p>\n
Emerald Isle physician Arthur H. Hemmerlein recalls his family’s encounter with a rip current years ago: “My wife and son were on inner tubes, and suddenly they started heading out to sea,” Hemmerlein says.<\/p>\n
“l went out to pull them back in, but I didn’t really know what to do. Luckily, we had something to hang onto.”<\/p>\n
Later, when Hemmerlein saw Sea Grant’s rip current posters \u2014 with simple instructions and illustrations \u2014 he appreciated the direct message. He encouraged the Sea Grant office to transfer the message and graphics to a brochure that he could provide his patients.<\/p>\n
Hemmerlein then purchased 5,000 brochures that have been given away by rescue squads and tourist locations throughout Carteret County. Overall, more than 50,000 Sea Grant tip current brochures have been distributed in North Carolina and across the country.<\/p>\n