Beach attendance in 2019 was the highest recorded, according to the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association. Attendance increased by 2,432 over the previous year, bringing the total 2019 beach visits to 841,413.
The association began tracking visit statistics in 2012, including South, Humiston and Jaycee Parks.
While attendance increased last year, the number of first responder calls to the guarded beaches dropped 13 percent. Water rescues, too, declined by 24 percent.
The Lifeguard Association noted that half the water rescues that did occur happened outside the guarded beach areas.
There was one fatality in 2019, the association noted in its report – in September, when a young man went into the ocean near South Beach Park after 5 p.m., when lifeguards were no longer on duty. Before that, the last fatality was recorded in 2017.
According to the report, March was the busiest month for beach visits, with 93,265 visits. May, August and October broke their own records, and September saw the least visits – which is attributed to Hurricane Dorian over Labor Day. December, too, saw lower than usual attendance, due to the beach renourishment project at Jaycee/Conn beach.
Over the course of 2019, the lifeguards performed 14,098 preventative actions – educating beachgoers of potential threats, 184 minor medical calls, 22 major medical calls, and 25 rescues.
Currently, beaches are protected until 5 p.m. Hours will be extended to 7 p.m. starting Memorial Day and continue through until Labor Day.
Along with noting record attendance and the decreased number of calls for service, the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association raises concerns about the parks’ conditions in the report.
The lifeguard tower at Humiston Park, according to the association, is in disrepair. “Lifeguards are unable to see much of the beach without having to improvise by sitting outside the tower on the boardwalk in the elements distracted by patrons and easy targets for those in the public who wish to do them harm,” the report states.
The association also made note of the bathrooms at each of the three parks being in need of renovation. “Poor maintenance of our beach park infrastructure may leave a negative impression on many visitors,” the association wrote.
The report offers a number of recommendations the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association would like to have implemented. The recommendations include more buoys to better mark the PEP reef at Humiston Park, bringing back recycling bins to the parks to better manage refuse, and increase police presence on weekends and holidays. The group would also like the extended hours to run through the month of September.
The association also suggests the Lifeguard Agency should be transferred from the Recreation Department to the Police Department, given its function as public safety.
