OCBP rescues 200 people over two days

After almost 200 rescues over two days, Ocean city officials say the beaches are safe.

According to the ocean city beach patrol they have 100 guards on duty on any given day. But between Sunday and Monday, heavy surf pounded the beach and caused dangerous rip currents. Authorities say that in most rescues swimmers were not in distress, but were at risk of being pulled away from shore, which prompted lifeguards to intervene.

Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain, Butch Arbin, says “When someone is in a rip current and we blow a whistle immediately at them, their immediate response is to swim straight in. We’re not going to wait until they get exhausted were not going to wait until they panic.”

He also added, “We don’t want them to be in fear, we don’t want them to have a bad experience, we’re going to help them out and let them return later to the beach.”

Captain Arbin says a two-day spike in activity actually isn’t all that rare, it happens periodically throughout the season.

Ocean City Beach Patrol reminds the public to go by their motto. “if a life guard isn’t in the stand, keep your feet in the sand.”