SEA ISLE CITY — Residents and vacationers should feel safe on the beaches here with the lifeguards on duty.
At a council meeting Aug. 28, President Mike McHale and Police Chief William Kennedy presented three lifeguards with commendations for helping to save a man’s life last month.
On Aug. 3, a 58 year-old male collapsed with a heart attack near the 44th Street Life Guard Station and Sea Isle’s best responded immediately.
Peter Leporati, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves, wrote a letter to Kennedy explaining that he was on the beach vacationing with his family when he heard the man’s wife screaming for help.
According to Leporati, Sea Isle Beach Patrol lieutenants Dan Stearne, Chuck Gehman and Mike McCormick all played a vital role in saving the man’s life.
Stearne performed chest compressions while McCormick helped the man breathe using an oxygen-fed bag valve mask and Gehman used an automatic external defibrillator to shock the man’s heart back into action. Leporati, a flight nurse in the military for 23 years, also helped by giving the man mouth-to-mouth while the breathing mask was readied.
“If it were not for their (lifeguards) education, training, quick response and life-saving equipment, we would not have had the opportunity to save this man’s life,” Leporati wrote.
“I have no doubt that this man’s family as well as the visiting public were quite impressed with your beach patrol emergency response capabilities.”
Kennedy, who was recently placed in charge of the beach patrol, said he was impressed with and proud of their efforts.
McHale also spoke highly of the lifeguards saying they were ambassadors for the city presenting an excellent first impression for vacationers.
Acting Administrator Richard Deaney reported that Kennedy and beach patrol Captain Renny Steele have forged a good relationship and are working on new initiatives.
According to Deaney, lifeguards will be training police in water rescue and life saving procedures. He also said the beach patrol has plans to extend protection hours and add a lifeguard stand on Townsend’s Inlet beaches next summer.
“Citizens should think of the whole operation as a total public safety department,” Deaney said of the partnership between the two groups.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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