Horry County, Myrtle Beach divorcing fatally flawed ‘dual role’ life guarding model
Thousands of Grand Strand beach goers are in for a safer experience starting this spring, officials said, as both Horry County and Myrtle Beach are on the verge of scrapping a widely debunked life guarding model that’s been blamed for at least one death.
On consecutive days this week, advisory panels to the county and city councils recommended separating guard duties from rental sales — a model known as “dual role life guarding” that’s not believed to be used anywhere else in the country.
“We look forward to having a great 2023 season,” Steve Taylor, chairman of the city’s Beach Advisory Committee, said Wednesday.
The U.S. Lifesaving Association, America’s largest water safety group, estimates a person swimming on a beach patrolled by organization-certified guards have a 1 in 18 million chance of drowning.
The panel spent nearly an hour in executive session Wednesday before unanimously recommending the city council amend contracts with John’s Beach Service and Lack’s Beach Service starting this year.
The companies — whose contracts are set to lapse in 2024 and 2025 — have agreed to the modifications and will stay on as vendors. That means city officials don’t have to back out to bid.
A landmark civil suit over the summer against Lack’s awarded more than $20 million to the family of Zerihun Wolde, a Maryland man who drowned in 2018 while on vacation in Myrtle Beach.
Jurists said Lack’s Beach Service was liable for Wolde’s death because a lifeguard who was supposed to be on duty at the time was renting out equipment.
Both councils have final say over changes to vendor contracts, but committee recommendations are typically significant factors in determining how members vote. The updated agreements are expected to be on their agendas next month.
On Tuesday, assistant county administrator Randall Webster outlined proposed changes to its beach franchise agreements, which lapse in May.
The new contracts carry strict measures to ensure lifeguards assigned to watch the water don’t overlap with commercial activity.
County leaders wrote several new requirements into the new contracts.
Lifeguard services must remain separate from rental operations and identified by different-colored clothing
Rental operations staff may assist lifeguards in emergency situations as long as they are properly trained
Lifeguards will be fully staffed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily instead of two rover teams covering the beach from 5 p.m. through 7 p.m
Lifeguards will make it obvious when they are leaving the beach for the day at 6 p.m.
Franchise fees will remain the same as the current agreement
Annual review of the franchise agreement fees
Umbrella spacing to include areas of 50 feet along with current 10 feet between groupings of 10 umbrellas. Thirty of the 50 feet will be for the public placement of umbrellas
Umbrella spacing language was added in part because of the Aug. 10 death of Tammy Perrault, a 63-year-old who was impaled by one of the devices on a Garden City beach.
“We listened to a lot of folks who have reached out to us over the course of time about umbrella issues as well as concerns of lifeguards being taken away from lifeguard duty while they were doing rentals,” Webster told the county council’s public safety committee Tuesday.
Last month, county officials finalized deals with George Lack and Garrett Todd on seven-year contracts, giving them sole authority to rent beach equipment in exchange for providing safety coverage. The contracts were signed. Jan. 20.
The Sun News has extensively reported on the perils of dual-role guarding. To date, no city official has stated publicly whether the system needs to be replaced.
Taylor said at a Jan. 18 committee meeting officials have long been considering moving away from the dual role model.
“We’ve been kicking this thing around for quite some time, so I think this is a really positive step for all those involved and especially Myrtle Beach,” he said. “This has been a long time kind of quest we’ve been on, really before COVID.”
USLA president Chris Brewster, who testified on behalf of Wolde’s estate, praised the city and county’s plans.
“The primary goal of the USLA is drowning prevention and the national standards set for lifeguard operations are laser focused on that goal. We believe that lifeguard agencies that follow those standards will very, very rarely encounter drownings at their beaches,” he told The Sun News Wednesday. “I would expect that this change in both Horry County and Myrtle Beach will result in a significant improvement in beach safety.”
Nick Jackson, general manager of John’s Beach Service, told the city’s advisory committee Wednesday the business plans to seek USLA certification.
