Safety first at Martin Ave. school

Martin Avenue Principal Mark Weiner has been a lifelong resident of Long Beach, and while he learned to respect the water as a child, he wanted his students to do the same.

On June 21, Weiner invited fellow Long Beach native Steve Kohut, chief of Long Beach Lifeguards for 26 years, to speak with fifth- and sixth-graders about water safety. Kohut, a retired teacher in Oceanside with 45 years of lifeguarding experience, currently works as the chief lifeguard examiner for the Nassau County Department of Health. Though he no longer patrols the shoreline on a regular basis, Kohut remains committed to keeping swimmers safe.

Kohut handed out pamphlets to students detailing what a rip current is and the best way to get out of one. He also instructed students on the importance of knowing how to swim. "You should make it your business to learn how to swim," Kohut said, noting that many drowning victims are not able to swim.

Students were also told of the importance of listening to lifeguards and to never swim alone. Kohut demonstrated different whistles for the students and showed them a rescue torpedo used in ocean rescues.

Kohut focused specifically on the dangers of rip currents. The pamphlets describe a rip current as "powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from shore." Rip currents are the cause of many drowning incidents on Long Island's beaches. "The reason that people drown in a rip current is that they try to swim against it," Kohut told students. Kohut pointed to the pamphlet as he instructed students on how to safely escape from a rip current if they ever find themselves in one.

If caught in a rip current:

•Remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly.

•Never fight against the current.

•Think of it like a treadmill that cannot be turned off, which you need to step to the side of.

•Swim out of the current in a direction following the shoreline. When out of the current, swim at an angle — away from the current — toward the shore.

•If you are unable to swim out of the rip current, float or calmly tread water. When out of the current, swim toward the shore.

•If you are unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself by waving your arm and yelling for help.

Kohurt concluded by reminding students that if they ever had any doubts about swimming to stay out of the water; that and knowing how to deal with a rip current should be the perfect equation for a safe and fun summer.