Five Los Angeles County lifeguards were presented with Medals of Valor last month for rescues ranging from boaters on the rocks at Catalina to a pier jumper weighted down with a 75-pound lead vest.
The awards were presented by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, the Redondo Chamber of Commerce and the Beach Cities Health District on Thursday, July 29 during the traditional kickoff for the International Surf Festival.
Retired Lifeguard Section Chiefs Bob Buchanan and Gary Crum were also honored. Buchanan received the Lifetime Achievement award for his work in establishing the Lifeguard Training Academy and merging lifeguards with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Crum was recognized for his many years as head of the International Surf Festival committee.
Catalina Mayday
Rescue Boat Captain Steve Powell and ocean lifeguard specialist Luke Williams were awarded Medals of Valor for their response to a mayday call on the backside of Catalina Island last October. The wind was gusting to over 30 knots, with 12- to 15-foot seas. Two boats were on the rocks. While Williams swam in to search for the victims Powell came upon an injured boater in the water whom he managed to singlehandedly pull aboard the Baywatch. Williams and Powell then located four other survivors. A Coast Guard helicopter subsequently transported the victims to a hospital on the mainland.
Cliffhanger
Last May, Baywatch ocean lifeguard specialist Bret Lanford was dispatched to help a person stuck on the side of an oceanside cliff at Point Dume. The adult male was 75 feet above the rocks and surf. Lanford grabbed a line and swam in through the large surf and then climbed a 60 degree slope to the victim. Lanford secured the victim with one end of the line and attached the other end of the line around himself. While waiting for additional help, the exhausted victim began to panic. Fearing the victim would not be able to hang on, Lanford free climbed another 20 feet to the top of the cliff and then pulled the victim to safety.
Heavy lifting
Last December, after dark, John Van Duinwyk and two fellow guards from the Santa Monica headquarters noticed several people waving them over to the southeast corner of the Santa Monica pier. A person had jumped off the pier and not resurfaced.
Van Duinwyk leapt into the water and a Santa Monica Harbor Patrolman lowered him a small SCUBA tank. After two dives Van Duinwyk was able to bring the jumper to the surface. It took all his effort and the assistance of two other lifeguards to pull the heavy victim onto a rescue board and the pier’s hoist to lift him from the water. Paramedics discovered the reason the jumper was so heavy was because he was wearing a 75 pound, lead vest under his clothes.
Life restored
Last March, a large swell was hammering the Southern California coast. A Black’s Beach local took off on a double overhead wave, pulled into the tube, and when the tube closed out, floated to the surf, face down. Another surfer paddled to the victim, and held him on the surface. Ocean Lifeguard Specialist Dylan Jones was in the line-up and heard the heard the cries for help. He caught a wave to the victim, put the 180-pound, unconscious surfer on his 7-foot singlefin, and paddled him to shore, where he was met by another surfer, who happened to be a physician. The two worked up the patient, who had no pulse and was not breathing. By the time paramedics arrived, the patient was breathing on his own and able to answer questions. ER
