Lido Beach, NY –With an alarming amount of shark bites taking place off the shores of Long Island, including an incredibly severe shark bite recently in Rockaway Beach, Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin has teamed up with NYU Langone Hospital Long Island to provide extra emergency training to Town of Hempstead Lifeguards. The “Stop the Bleed” training program equipped participants with the skills and knowledge needed to respond to grievous shark bites, teaching specific tourniquets and more. Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin welcomed the trainers and participants, noting that the extra training will help combat an emerging threat.
“Town of Hempstead Lifeguards are among the best in the business, and they are always prepared for the worst,” said Clavin. “With shark bites becoming an increasingly prevalent emergency, we need to be proactive in keeping swimmers and beachgoers safe.”
The “Stop the Bleed” training program was launched by NYU Langone Hospital’s Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, who also administered the lecture and hands-on training at Town Park, Point Lookout. The training featured fake limbs with various wounds that tasked participants to fill the wound, wrap a tourniquet and apply pressure to the correct areas. The types of wounds included lacerations, bullet wounds and even wounds similar to a shark bite. The goal of the training is not to “normalize” events that might result in life-threatening bleeding, but to prepare communities as best as possible for a range of trauma circumstances.
Town of Hempstead lifeguards are required to be certified in lifeguard training, CPR and first aid training. In the past 88 years, there has never been a drowning at a Town of Hempstead beach when a lifeguard has been on duty. Town of Hempstead lifeguards are trained in various shark-response initiatives, such as properly identifying the fins and swimming patterns of a shark. What’s more, Town of Hempstead Shark Patrol consists of a team of lifeguards operating watercrafts such as a boat and jet ski, drones that patrol the waters every day and protocols that help protect beachgoers and swimmers in the event of a shark sighting. Town of Hempstead lifeguards are responsible for protecting nearly 4 miles of beachfront, including Town Park at Point Lookout, Town Park at Lido Beach, Lido Beach West, Malibu Beach, Atlantic Beach and Nickerson Beach.
“I’m grateful to NYU Langone Hospital Long Island for helping keep Town of Hempstead beachgoers safe by offering this emergency training,” said Clavin. “It’s my hope that town lifeguards will never need to use this training, but the invaluable knowledge of tourniquets and treating excessively bleeding victims will be most helpful in emergency situations.”