Man Injured Body Surfing and Reviewing the Law
We were dispatched this afternoon to the beach access on SE 72nd Street for a report of a man that was injured following a body surfing accident. Our job was to assist Oak Island Fire Department with transporting the gentleman off the beach to a waiting Brunswick County EMS ambulance.
When we arrived, the beach was very crowded on this Memorial Day Weekend, and it took us about a minute just to clear people from the road so we could get the truck over the dune. Once atop the dune, the entire access to the beach was blocked by beachgoers and their gear. Several members were needed to help clear a path for the truck, and after another minute or two we were able to make our way to the patient.
The man was in a lot of pain with significant injuries, but was able to make it into the back of our truck with the assistance of a firefighter and other first responders. Once again, it took about a minute to clear a path for the truck off the beach so the man could be transported to the ambulance.
While this injury was not life-threatening, getting the patient off the beach and into the care of emergency medical professionals remains a time-critical task. People ignoring the law regarding keeping emergency paths and beach accesses clear cost this patient several minutes of additional pain and suffering, and could have been far worse if his injuries were more severe, or if he had needed to be rescued from the water first.
We understand the beach is crowded this time of year and finding a good spot to setup your gear can be a problem. But the law is very clear, you must not block emergency access points to the beach with your vehicles, gear, or yourself. Emergency accesses are clearly marked by signs and orange posts at the entrance from the parking area, and orange posts on the beach.
Town of Oak Island ordinance 14-143 (d) states “No beach equipment, personal property, or obstructions may be placed in an area within a 15 feet of any duly marked and designated emergency beach access points on the seaward side of the access.” This mean if you draw an imaginary line from the center of an emergency beach access to the water, you cannot have any obstruction within 15 feet either side of that line, creating a 30-foot wide path. This is the only way we can be assured of being able to quickly access the beach and provide required rescue services.
