Rip Currents 101 aims to educate the public on the dangers of rip currents and inform them on the measures one can take in and out of the water in order to protect themselves. We aim to put a halt to these easily preventable deaths.
I have lived on Miami Beach with my family my entire life. I was raised there, taught there, and swam there. My peers and I were never educated in school how to escape from the tight grip of a rip current, let alone what they even are. Come to think of it, we were not even taught how to swim. Looking back I find this hard to accept given the fact that we lived and learned less than five minutes from the water and that almost every household nearby owned a swimming pool. Thankfully, I was taught to swim at a young age, but many others were and are still not taught this very vital skill.
As my mom never lets me forget, she gave me life twice. While vacationing in Turks and Caicos a few years back my mom and I decided to take a beach day. Being the oceanfront natives that we are, we paid no attention to the lifeguard house or the flags hanging from it. After basking in the warm sun and our naive invincibility, we decided to go for a swim. At the time I was young and still afraid that some sea life would come up from below and drag me under, so I had my mom carry me into the water. Ironically, it was an intangible force that pulled us below the surface, not a giant sea animal. Luckily, my mom had read a book on how to save oneself from life or death situations (no we are not as paranoid as we sound!). This book explained that when one is being pulled under by a rip current they should stop resisting and swim parallel towards the shore. After my mom got us out of the current and safely on shore, we were ‘shore’ to always be cautious of the current any time we visited the beach from that point forward. Upon our return home, we shared the story with our friends and family so they could avoid making the same mistake but we thought “how can we do more?” and that is how this idea came about. Unfortunately, since our return home we have heard countless stories of people not being able to escape from a rip current so we knew we had to take action.
Our goal is to inform the public of this danger, educate them on preventative measures, and teach them how to protect themselves if ever found in situations similar to these. We want families and individuals to stay safe without having to sacrifice their beloved beach days and vacations.
We would love to hear your questions, suggestions, and feedback. We can be reached through the email or twitter found on our Contact Us page.