Busy Season for Ocean City Beach Patrol

Coastal storms churned up the surf and rip currents created dangerous water conditions at times during the start of the summer, putting Ocean City’s Beach Patrol on high alert.

On June 29, lifeguards made nine saves on the Ninth Street beach when a family of four fell in while walking along the jetty rocks. Five good Samaritans tried to help and also needed to be rescued. That same day, guards made 25 additional rescues at other beaches in the resort.

“It looked like with poor water conditions, we would have a challenging summer, but the water stayed cold and it helped with bather safety quite a bit,” Ocean City Beach Patrol Director Allan Karas said in an interview on Labor Day, the end of the bustling summer season.

Some days water temps were in the 50s and 60s. The past month, however, Karas said that the ocean water has been warmer. On Labor Day weekend, bathers enjoyed 70-degree water temperatures.

“We definitely had fewer crowds in the water when it was cold, but the beaches were mobbed,” Karas emphasized.

The Ocean City Beach Patrol is made up of 191 lifeguards, including some EMTs. Karas said the patrol handled many water rescues as well as medical emergencies on the beaches.

“We had a significant amount of rescues and medical calls for service,” he said while commending the work of the lifeguards and the EMTs, noting that there were no on-duty deaths. "But we definitely had a ton of medical calls."

    Ocean City Beach Patrol Director Allan Karas watches training earlier in the season.
  

Karas, a retired supervisory special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was hired by the city in 2021 to help restructure the Beach Patrol after incidents led to the arrest and termination of a former lifeguard following sex assault charges, among other issues in the patrol.

“This is my fourth season running the Beach Patrol and it has been very satisfying to feel like my whole staff is on the same page in terms of bather safety, presentation to the public and fostering a healthy work environment,” Karas said.

He called the Beach Patrol the "best trained Beach Patrol staff in New Jersey.”

“I have great guards on the stands, supervisors managing them and a great training staff,” he said.

The team has also worked more closely with the Police and Fire Departments, he added.

“We worked closer this summer than ever before,” Karas explained. “We always had a good relationship with them, but I think now we collaborate more in a variety of areas behind the scenes for the safety of the residents and visitors.”

Bathers should not swim in unguarded beaches. For a list of beaches that will still be guarded until Sept. 15 visit, https://www.ocnj.us/ocbp_guarded_beaches 

    Lifeguards keep their eyes on bathers during a busy July 6 day.