I’m fresh off a week’s vacation on a lake in upstate New York. One evening as we were sitting by the lake in full-on ‘chill mode’ a steady stream of emergency vehicles sped past, fire, police, ambulances and environmental police, lights flashing, sirens blaring, three of them towing boats. I looked at my brother and said, “That can’t be good.” He frowned solemnly and shook his head. My mom immediately began searching for answers on her phone. As we pieced the story together, a tragedy came into focus; a girl was way out in the lake on an inflatable raft that overturned, her boyfriend scrambled to swim to her rescue. In the meantime a boat saved the girl, unaware of that he was also on the way; they brought her to shore, unknowingly leaving the boyfriend behind. Onlookers watched as he grew exhausted and went under, it did not have a happy ending.
As I returned home on Saturday, my phone began lighting up asking if I knew who the surfcasters were that went in off Little Compton, RI earlier that day. A Google search revealed that two brothers were fishing the rocks when one of them ended up in the water, the other dove in to try and rescue him and a third, unrelated, person entered the water to try and assist, the third party was rescued by lifeguards, the other two went under and another tragedy struck.
This is a scenario that I have played over and over in my head hundreds of times. As a surfcaster and kayak fisherman, I am constantly (voluntarily) in situations where an emergency could arise at any time, and I’ve had a few close calls. I’ve also known surfcasters who’ve lost their lives in the surf, and that’s a sobering reality every time it happens, whether I know the person or not. Furthermore, I am fishing with people I genuinely care about and – in the moment – it would be hard not to go in after them.
Over the years I’ve talked to many authorities about this very subject and the resounding advice is “don’t become part of the emergency”. If you need it spelled out more clearly, this means don’t set yourself up to take resources away from your friend who may already be fighting for his or her life in the water. Finding two people is a much larger ordeal for rescue personnel and time is the BIGGEST factor in any water rescue emergency. This means the best actions you can take for your friend is to do whatever you can to get emergency personnel on the scene as quickly as possible. Your first move is to call 911, be sure to have as detailed a description of the location as possible and be available to first responders on the scene and by phone if they need more information, you won’t be able to do either of these things if you jump in to try and save your buddy.
If you are the one who ends up in the water, you’ll need to assess the situation; are you injured? Do you have the stamina to swim back to shore? Your first order of business is to stay alive and if that means drifting in the current while floating or treading water, do that. I tell everyone I fish with how to get into my truck and I also tell everyone that if they fall in or get swept out, to turn their headlamp on the brightest setting and leave it on. This will give the person on the shore a way to keep track and to gauge the drift.
Kayakers have a little more equipment to work with. First off, we should all be wearing a PFD; if you’re not, you’re not very smart. We should all be carrying a handheld, waterproof VHF radio and know how to make a distress call (tune to channel 16, set to high power, repeat the word MAYDAY three times, state your name, your approximate location, describe your emergency, specify the type of assistance needed and describe your vessel). Try to stay with your vessel if possible for visibility, it’s also wise to keep a brightly-colored distress flag stowed in one of the pockets of your PFD and a distress whistle on your person, as well. These things can – quite literally – save your life for a relatively nominal expense.
Panic is the intangible in these situations, because none of us know how we might react in a dire situation, panic is also what leads exhaustion and that leads nowhere good. I think we all like to believe that we would snap into action and instinctively know what do to. Staying alive is the only priority and the best way to do that is to keep your wits, keep your breath and do whatever you can to stay out of any area or situation that might make things worse. As part of a team (fishing partnership) we should not expect our friends to risk their lives to save us, but rather, take comfort in the fact that they are making calls and doing everything they can to get you back on the shoreline, safely. If you want to be a hero, that’s how you do it.
