VERO BEACH — The way Erik Toomsoo sees it, the restoration of lifeguard hours at Humiston Park Beach – back to a full, pre-recession schedule of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – already has proven to be well worth the cost.
“We were pushing our luck for too long, especially with the Central Beach continuing to grow in popularity,” said Toomsoo, president of the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association. “Getting those hours back is really making a difference.”
The Vero Beach City Council, seeking to cut costs during difficult economic times, reduced the park’s lifeguard hours in 2011 and left the beach unprotected before 10 a.m. and after 3 p.m.
On Sept. 3, however, the council voted 3-2 to spend an additional $30,000 for lifeguard protection at the city’s beaches. The expenditure, which took effect Oct. 1, covered the cost of restoring full-time lifeguard protection at Humiston.
Less than three weeks later – on Oct. 18 – city lifeguard Vincent Valentino rescued six children in two incidents only 15 minutes apart, both coming after 3 p.m.
The first of those Saturday afternoon rescues occurred at about 3:30, when Valentino noticed that four children, ages 7 to 10, were caught in a rip current north of the park and pulled them to safety.
Fifteen minutes later, Valentino ran back into the water to help a woman and her children, ages 4 and 5, after they were knocked off their bodyboard by a large wave. All returned to shore safely.
“The rescues are a big reason why the lifeguard association, along with the Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce, pushed so hard last summer to get those hours back,” Toomsoo said. “A lot of people come to Vero Beach because of our beaches. It makes sense to keep our beaches safe.
“There were an alarming number of incidents that occurred after 3 p.m., when there were no lifeguards on duty because of the cutbacks,” he added. “We had to rely on the beach-umbrella rental company employees and other tourists and beachgoers to help people caught in rip currents and other water-related emergencies in the Humiston Park area.
“They made at least 14 rescues that we know of.”
Toomsoo praised Mayor Richard Winger and council members Amelia Graves and Jay Kramer – he broke the 2-2 deadlock – for voting in favor of the expenditure because, he said, the city’s three beaches need to be fully protected.
“Vincent’s rescues are the only ones this month that occurred after 3 p.m. at Humiston, and that’s a big deal,” Toomsoo said. “So far, we’ve had 33 rescues on the city’s beaches this year. But a lot of things happen on our beaches that don’t get advertised.
“We had an incident Saturday at South Beach, where a guy was asked to leave the beach because he was being inappropriate with other beachgoers, and he pulled a gun out and pointed it at the lifeguards.”
The lifeguards called police and the gunman was arrested.
