BEACH SAFETY DIVISION

Gulf Shores Fire Rescue Beach Safety Division

In 2018, the City of Gulf Shores continued to commit to the protection of our residents and seasonal guests by moving the lifeguard division to Fire Rescue and assigning a fulltime Division Chief that was assisted by the Lieutenant and thirty seasonal lifeguards. In 2021, we hired a second Lieutenant to help protect the public. This division is led by Beach Safety Chief Joethan Phillips, Beach Safety Lieutenant Dylan Hess, Beach Safety Lieutenant Lauren Bozeman, 30 seasonal open-water lifeguards, and 4 beach rangers. Lifeguards span 10 miles of beachfront with 12 static lifeguard towers and 4 roving patrols. Each day during the summer months, there are 16 lifeguards and 2 rangers on duty. Lifeguards are trained in accordance to the United States Lifesaving Association open water lifeguard saving standard, First-aid & CPR, Emergency Vehicle Operations, and Emergency Medical Response. In addition, all full-time staff are certified firefighters, and licensed paramedics.

In Chief Phillip’s strategic plan, he noted the need for additional lifeguard towers at the city-owned beach accesses located at 10th and 12th street on West Beach Blvd. Additionally, there are approximately 4 miles of beachfront located west of Calloway Pass that lifeguards respond to emergency calls. The lifeguard’s primary role is protecting beaches within our city. Additional roles are that of educating the public about the hidden dangers that may be present at the beach. Lifeguards conduct thousands of educational talks throughout the year; these include rip current awareness, heat-related emergencies, the dangers of holes on the beach, and general information about the area. Lifeguards respond to hundreds of calls for swimmers in distress and affect many rescues due to surf conditions, poor swimming ability, and swift water. In addition to protecting beachgoers, the lifeguards in Gulf Shores respond to sick and injured birds and marine life.

This year, with assistance from Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism and The City of Orange Beach, we created the BEach SAFE program. This was designed to inform and notify guests in the area about surf conditions and awareness. Lifeguards from Orange Beach and Gulf Shores conducted thousands of surveys to gather information about what the people on the beach already know about beach safety so that we can better serve the public.