Lifeguard Jumps Into Action on Mexico’s Behalf

HUNTINGTON BEACH — As a tourist, Matt Karl enjoys visiting tropical places and bodysurfing big waves. As a lifeguard, he is keenly aware of beach conditions and danger.

So years ago, when he first visited Puerto Escondido along Mexico’s Pacific coast, he was alarmed.

“I was pretty amazed at the conditions and the fact that there were no lifeguards,” said Karl, a Huntington Beach lifeguard for 15 years. “Tourists were going there all the time, getting in trouble in the water and had no where to turn and no where to go if hurt.”

Karl, 32, joined efforts with Robert Burnside, 65, the retired chief of Los Angeles County lifeguards, who lives in Palm Desert and is a prominent competitive body surfer. Together, they invited Mexican volunteers to California to receive lifeguard training and started a fund-raising campaign to establish lifeguard service at Playa Zicatela, Puerto Escondido’s main beach, otherwise known as the Mexican Pipeline.

Last week, the two were among honored guests at the dedication of the city’s first lifeguard headquarters, built, in part, with funds raised by them and other lifeguards in the United States and supplied with used uniforms, binoculars and life-saving equipment donated by dozens of U.S. lifeguard associations.

The project started as a Southern California effort, said Burnside, who formed Club Tortuga (Turtle Club) under the umbrella of the 8,000-member United States Life Saving Assn. The goal is to start professional lifeguard services using Puerto Escondido as a model throughout Mexico, especially in resorts such as Acapulco and Santa Cruz Huatulco, two cities that sent representatives to the dedication.

A year ago, five volunteer lifeguards from Puerto Escondido visited Huntington Beach and Los Angeles County lifeguards and received training to be certified as international instructors, who can, in turn, train and certify a legion of lifeguards.

Since then, the number of Mexican lifeguards has increased. They have started a junior lifeguard program at two beaches and won recognition from local government officials.

“We in Oaxaca appreciate all the support and international help of the lifeguards,” said Manuel Maza Sanchez, an attorney with a state civil protection agency in Oaxaca. “This is not only for Puerto Escondido citizens but for tourists. It’s an excellent program and the entire coastline of Oaxaca is grateful for this help.”

Robert W. Farrand, a former Laguna Beach resident and partner in Hotel Arco Iris in Puerto Escondido, said that his hotel and others along Playa Zicatela’s beachfront voluntarily pay a monthly fee to support the new lifeguard service.

“We’re happy to support them and those guys have worked really hard to build the headquarters and get where they are,” Farrand said. “The junior lifeguard is definitely needed, because from here, you will find your future lifeguards. But the hotel and business owners would like to see more municipal and state [financial] involvement.”

The new building is a two-story, 20-by-20-foot brick structure covered with plaster. The first floor is about four feet above the sand and has a 20-foot ceiling, Burnside said. The second story is an observation floor.

“It’s right on the beach in the center of the main surf zone,” Burnside said proudly. “We also funded two portable towers for a nearby beach.”

In all, Club Tortuga donated about $5,000. Lifeguard associations donated thousands of dollars more in equipment, including rescue buoys, bullhorns and first-aid materials from cervical collars to basic gauze pads.

“We brought the money down with us with plans and the job was contracted out locally,” Burnside said.

Support has been growing, Burnside said, with the addition of lifeguard groups from the East Coast. For example, a truck loaded with lifesaving gear left Georgia on May 12 and arrived in time for the dedication three days later.

Los Angeles County lifeguards donated old uniforms from the agency’s consolidation when it was part of the Fire Department. Department patches were removed, the uniforms were cleaned and packed for Mexico, Burnside said.

Burnside said he is nearly done translating English into Spanish on the lifeguards’ beach and life-saving manual. An Ensenada lifeguard who is part of Club Tortuga is expected to be finished with the translation within months. Once finished, the manual is expected to be used in Mexico and Latin America.

Being part of the project also has had its rewards for Burnside and Karl, who epitomize the lifesaving association’s motto of “Lifeguards for Life.”

In years past, Puerto Escondido’s beaches reportedly had 30 to 40 drownings annually, including U.S. and European tourists. No one has drowned while the volunteer lifeguards have been on patrol.

At the dedication, Karl said he saw something in the faces of the volunteer lifeguards who have now become his friends.

“Seeing the pride in the faces of the guards and all their hard work and our hard work was like a payoff,” Karl said. “This benefits the community down there and offers hope and opportunity for jobs. The whole thing was really emotional.”