I spent the day with lifeguards at the seaside. The stories you hear are shocking

Coastal lifeguards sometimes intervene in moral issues. – A drunk German woman stripped naked and staggered on the beach. She left three small children on the blanket, who were ashamed of their mother’s achievements, says the rescuer from Pogorzelica.

1. – We must have eyes around our heads and look not only at the bathing beach, but also at the beach. If someone is not on the blanket for a long time, it is a cause for concern for us – says Eduard
2. When a person is drowning, he makes sudden, uncoordinated movements, waves his hands. He doesn’t scream because he doesn’t have the strength to do it. Drowns in silence
3. The most dangerous are the so-called reverse currents, because they cannot be seen on the surface of the water. Fighting them can surpass the capabilities of a man and carry him deeper into the body of water
4. More current information can be found on the Onet homepage.

Eduard Polukhin is 23 years old and manages a team of 14 lifeguards on the beach in Pogorzelica on the Baltic Sea (a small resort near Rewal, in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship). Although their emergency service starts at 10, they appear on the beach much earlier.

– We check the sand for broken glass, bottles, sharp stones or roots that may injure sunbathers. We also check if the red and yellow buoys are in their place, because the strong waves of the Baltic Sea often displace them. They are important because the first ones constitute the border of the zone for non-swimmers, and the water depth there is up to 1,2 m. Yellow buoys, on the other hand, are a signal for skilled swimmers and mean that the water reaches about four meters deep. We measure the temperature of air and water, hang flags. White when the conditions are safe for bathing, and red when we order a bathing ban – explains Eduard, who will end his duty as usual, i.e. at 18.

People counting, empty blankets and alcohol

The guarded beach in Pogorzelica is very narrow in places. It narrows even more as the northwest wind blows that drives the waves. And because on this stretch of the beach there are no wooden piles, i.e. breakwaters, driven into the sea, the foamed water flows far beyond the shoreline, all the way to the dunes.

In early August, powerful waves almost washed away one of the lifeguard bases, the so-called baywatch.

– We are on duty every day, regardless of the weather. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, there’s a raging storm or a cold wind blows. Today is beautiful weather, there are plenty of sunbathers, and we must keep our eyes peeled and look not only at the beach, but also at the beach. If someone is not on the blanket for a long time, it is a signal for us to worry. In addition, we count the people who bathe, we look at who enters the water and who comes out of it – says Bogdan and shouts in to a pair of his associates, Timur and Diana, who are standing by the shore.

“Posmotritie on these two, they were totally drunk!”

Polish-Ukrainian-Belarusian team

There is one Pole among the rescuers from Pogorzelice, the rest of the group are Ukrainians and Belarusians: Timur, Diana, Alina, Nikita, Roksolana, Volodymir, Alksander, Eugenia, Krystyna, Daryna and Maxim.

Eduard, a Ukrainian, came a few years ago from Kryvyi Rih, a town in the Dnietropetrovsk region. – In eastern Ukraine, many people speak . I learned Ukrainian only in Poland – he smiles. Without taking his eyes off the today’s calm Baltic Sea, he explains that a rescue operation must always be adapted to the age of the person.

– If we pull ashore an adult man who is not breathing, we perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the rhythm of 30 compressions of the middle part of the sternum, alternating with two rescue breaths. When saving a child, this scheme is slightly different: after opening the airway, we take five breaths, then press the chest 15 times with only one hand, and in the case of infants with two fingers. After the compressions, we perform two rescue breaths.

People are drowning in silence

– How do you know when you are drowning? – I ask Eduard. – Makes sudden, uncoordinated movements, waves his hands. He does not scream “help!”, He has no strength for it, so you can say that he is drowning in silence. But at all costs, he is desperately trying to get some air, keep his head above the water. The first 60 seconds while the drowning person is still afloat are most important. When it disappears under its surface, saving it may be almost a miracle – says the rescuer.

This year, it has never happened that together with colleagues they created the so-called chain of life.

– It consists in holding hands and walking along the shoreline. We are looking for a missing person to get them out of the water as soon as possible, alive or, unfortunately, dead. If such a situation arose, the action, apart from our group in Pogorzelica, could be attended by meals from nearby beaches in Niechorze, Pustków or Pobierowo. The more people, the easier it is to “trample” the body – he explains.

She ran naked among the “textile”

Eduard says that rescuers sometimes intervene in moral issues.

– Recently, a German woman, about forty years old, stripped naked and staggered on the beach. The tourist was completely drunk and she left three small children, aged 4 to 10, on the blanket. They were very ashamed of what their mother was doing. We were alerted by sunbathers and although the incident took place on an unguarded beach, we approached it, covered it with a blanket and explained that it should take the children and go home – says the lifeguard.

People who try to swim too far on air mattresses and lost children are almost everyday situations for rescuers.

– A grandfather went to the beach with his granddaughter. He met a friend from college, and since they hadn’t seen each other for 40 years, they got so stuck that they forgot about God’s world. The worried girl started to cry loudly, so people came to us to ask for help in looking for a man. He was out of the child’s sight for almost an hour.

The drunk are “brave”

With Eduard we go to rescue station no. 3. Roman and Alina are sitting behind a sharp red screen. Although the temperature in the sun is around 25 degrees Celsius, the man is dressed in warm fleece with a hood pulled over his head.

– Because the wind is tiring. But if necessary, we can quickly undress and jump into the water. We have the necessary equipment at the ready to restore airway patency, oxygen therapy, immobilizing fractures and sprains, heating the body, stopping hemorrhages, dressing wounds – lists the paramedic. Next to the pair are disposable lunch packages.

– We don’t have a lunch break as such. It’s just that one of us brings meals for colleagues on duty in all seven towers. We eat on the beach, of course, all the time observing the surroundings. People who abuse alcohol are always a big problem for us. Drunken get brave, brave. They are risking their lives. And when we admonish them, when they hear a foreign accent, they can say: “S … go to each other, to Ukraine”. It is very sad – says Eduard sadly.

Reverse currents kidnap people

– What advice do I have for sunbathers? That they swim in places guarded by lifeguards and do not enter the water when they are warmed by the sun. They should cool down the body gradually, from the head to the neck and chest. We do not go into the water immediately after a heavy meal. As for children, they must be accompanied by adults on the beach.

– And most importantly: do not swim while drunk. Because although we have jet skis, motor boats and other equipment, we may be helpless in the face of people’s disregard for the dangers of the sea. Especially when there are reverse currents in the Baltic Sea, which are very dangerous because they are invisible on the water surface. Fighting them can be too much for a human being: they act quickly, from the shore towards the open sea. They kidnap a man into the depths of the body of water. You can’t fight them. Those who get carried away by these currents have the best chance, and then drift away from them, moving parallel to the shore, Eduard warns.