A witness to a tragic is calling on Parks Canada to reinstate lifeguards at Lovekin Rock within the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
Vancouver resident Darleen Saxer told the Westerly News she was at Long Beach when the tragedy occurred and saw two surfers pulling a person out of the water near Lovekin Rock as bystanders raced to assist prior to paramedics arriving.
sa国际传媒淢y heart goes out to the familysa国际传媒 just really hope to see some sort of change to make it more welcoming to every level of surfer to the beach,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 something that could change somebodysa国际传媒檚 life forever.sa国际传媒�
Saxer said she did some research after witnessing the incident and learned about the rescues and tragedies that have occurred at Lovekin Rock, including two people who died in the area in 2018 and four people who were rescued off the rock via helicopter in 2019.
Surf Guards had been stationed at a tower overlooking Lovekin Rock for 40 years before budget cuts in 2012 prompted Parks Canada to cancel the program.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 actually really surprised that a National Park doesnsa国际传媒檛 have a lifeguard on duty, especially at such a hot tourist location,sa国际传媒� Saxer said, noting the Park Reserve sees over one million visitors a year. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 kind of shocking.sa国际传媒�
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve superintendent Karen Haugen told the Westerly News via email that Parks Canada is sa国际传媒渄eeply saddenedsa国际传媒� by the tragedy, noting that BC Ambulance Service, Parks Canada staff and off-duty doctors, who were bystanders at the time of the incident, all responded to the scene.
sa国际传媒淥ur hearts are with the family and friends of the victim,sa国际传媒� Haugen said.
She added though that the Surf Guard program will not be returning.
sa国际传媒淧arks Canada does not have plans to reinstate the surf guard service. Surfing is an activity that takes place year round in the Long Beach Unit and surrounding region. It is not sustainable to provide extensive supervision,sa国际传媒� Haugen said. sa国际传媒淧arks Canada strives to educate visitors about ocean hazards and prevent tragedies from occurring. Water users are responsible for making informed decisions about ocean safety.sa国际传媒�
She said Parks Canada has continued to expand its efforts to help visitors make informed decisions about ocean safety through education and prevention measures including, monitoring environmental conditions every day, determining the level of risk, sharing the information with visitors, and implementing risk reduction tactics like closures, if needed.
sa国际传媒淒uring the summer months, this information is also shared by a team of Coastal Stewards. Coastal Stewards were working at Lovekin Rock at the time of the incident actively sharing information about ocean hazards with visitors,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭hrough the CoastSmart programsa国际传媒攄eveloped in collaboration with the Districts of Tofino and Uclueletsa国际传媒� standardized signs have been installed at key beach access locations throughout the Pacific Rim Region, including Lovekin Rock. There is additional signage at Lovekin Rock related to rip currents as it is a high-risk area.sa国际传媒�
The Park Reserve also launched an Indigenous Junior Guardian program last year that provides safety information to visitors and more information about staying safe around the ocean is available at www.coastsmart.ca as well as the Pacific Rim National Park Reservesa国际传媒檚 social media channels.
Saxer said surfing is booming in popularity, especially with its arrival as an Olympic sport and that the Park Reserve needs to do more to help keep its growing number of visitors safe.
sa国际传媒淚t needs to change. Knowing the risks, itsa国际传媒檚 hard to allow myself to go back into the water but I cansa国际传媒檛 imagine letting my children eventually go into the water and surf and there being this risk,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭he (Junior Guardians) are doing their very best in terms of educating the population and the National Park has put up signs, but are people really stopping, looking at these, reading the stuff or understanding what is being told to them?sa国际传媒�
She said itsa国际传媒檚 impossible to know whether a lifeguard could have prevented Aug. 7sa国际传媒檚 tragedy, but added that Parks Canadasa国际传媒檚 response that the area is too large to provide Surf Guards misses the mark because the Surf Guard tower that was in place until 2012 overlooked the area of highest concern at Lovekin Rock.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 frustrating. Itsa国际传媒檚 very frustrating,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚 have done more research on it and the response from Parks Canada is just not acceptable. There needs to be more change and it needs to happen now. If we wait seasons upon seasons for anything to come back or any changes to be made, itsa国际传媒檚 going to be too late. How many more deaths do we need to have before change actually happens?sa国际传媒�
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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