By Jacob Onofrio
Last Saturday, the San Clemente Department of Marine Safety held an open house, giving citizens from all over Orange County an inside look at lifeguard headquarters and an opportunity to learn about how they are preparing for the upcoming summer season.
Located in their original building at San Clemente beach, the department’s open house tour took visitors through their medical room, main office and dispatch room. Operating apart from the state lifeguard department, San Clemente lifeguards are expecting an estimate of 3,000 rescues this year alone, 90 percent of which are expected to be related to rip currents.
Lifeguard David Coy said although San Clemente Marine Safety works in tandem with the state lifeguard department, they are well equipped to handle their problems on their own.
In addition to preparing for the busy beach days this summer, the Junior Lifeguards program will be expanding to three sessions in order to allow more kids to get involved.
“It’s going to allow a lot more kids to come through, which is great,” Coy said. “I think it’s one of the coolest things a kid could do … you can see operations from inside out, which gives a huge advantage.” —Jacob Onofrio
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