Lamaur Stancil

Florida Today

Rip currents put five Georgia teenagers in the hospital Friday night, but the presence of two good Samaritans prevented a worse outcome at an unmanned beach near Patrick Air Force Base.

Brevard County Fire Rescue is advising beachgoers to be wary of rip currents this weekend because of strong winds and rough surf. The current carries swimmers away from the shore and exhausts those who try swimming against it. The county also received reports Saturday about swimmers caught in currents at the same area, Blockhouse Beach.

Above all, the safest thing to do is make sure to swim at a beach with a lifeguard, officials said.

Five swimmers caught in rip current, taken to hospital

While five were hospitalized, they and others were rescued by good Samaritans with great backgrounds in ocean rescue. Air Force reservist Shaun Hartman, who was also a firefighter who was trained in water rescue, was fishing at the beach before the arrival of the teens, who were part of a Reserve Officers' Training Corps group traveling from Georgia. And former Brevard County Lifeguard Chief Wyatt Werneth was driving along the beach when he noticed the commotion and stopped by.

Those men, along with members of Patrick AFB's security, pulled the teens out of the water. No information was available Saturday about the hospitalized teens.

"It was kind of a perfect storm," said Hartman, who serves with the 308th Rescue Squadron at Patrick. "It was spring break and you had bad ocean conditions. I fish at the spot regularly, but I usually only see rip currents in the winter, when no one is swimming."

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Before the ROTC group arrived at Blockhouse Beach, Hartman had already rescued one swimmer.

"He was about 100 yards out," Hartman said. "I got in the water and I went under two waves and got to him. That's how strong the waves were. They carried me about 30 yards at a time."

Lifeguards recommend people caught up in a rip current swim north or south to get out of the way of the current. Hartman was able to swim south to get him and the swimmer to safety.

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After a 15-minute break, the teens arrived. Soon, many of them had trouble in the water and Hartman joined the rescue efforts.

Werneth said he had been travelling to Satellite Beach to help his wife with car problems. He stopped at Blockhouse, learned of the rip current situation and grabbed a rescue float from his car.

Hartman had rescued several children at that point and was struggling to pull one of the kids to shore. He said he was relieved when Werneth swam to them with the rescue tube. Overall, Werneth said he pulled five people out of the water.

The tube Werneth used is one people will find posted at beaches throughout Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. Werneth is the spokesman for the Life Rescue Project, a non-profit organization that installs posts for the flotation devices at beach crossovers.

"They're available 24/7 for any good Samaritan that needs it," he said.

Officials at Patrick could not be reached for comment Saturday.

ON THE WEB

Learn more about rip currents: ripcurrents.noaa.gov

Learn more about the Life Rescue Project: liferescueproject.com