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The Rule About Digging at the Beach
By Kristin JosonJuly 7, 20166 min read
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Facts about the dangers of digging deep holes in the sand
SRTs are often asked by hole diggers why deep holes are not allowed. Let us review the facts. Deep holes are dangerous just about anywhere they are found and people usually try to avoid falling into them. Sand holes are particularly dangerous because they can collapse on the people digging them. Also, the vacation-oriented mindset of hole diggers clouds judgment, and people tend to underestimate the possible dangers of jumping in and out of a giant sandpit. Many times people want to get their picture taken in the hole that they dug not realizing that at any given moment the sand can cave in around them. Once a person is buried in the sand it is very difficult (boarding upon nearly impossible) to dig them out and have a positive outcome.
Sand shifts back into place even as people try to move the sand off of a trapped victim. Interviewing several people who attempted to help the 11-year-old boy referred to in the above Ocean City emergency confirmed that this was exactly what was happening to them. As they feverishly attempted to remove the sand that was trapping the boy, more sand just as quickly took its place. One might be amazed that it would take 40 people 30 minutes to free a buried victim. Just as a person can drown in a small amount of water it does not take a very deep hole to trap a child and once trapped due to the nature and instability of sand holes a person could parish before being freed Hence the rule that the hole may only be as deep as the knee of the smallest person in the group of people digging the hole.
The danger is real
I have heard some people say that people being buried alive under the sand is an old wives tale that lifeguards use to scare people into obeying a rule.Let’s look at the startling statistics.- More than several dozen young people have been killed over the last decade on beaches in the United States when their hole or sand tunnel collapsed on them.
- Harvard researcher, Bradley Maron, who has been tracking sand hole collapses worldwide for the past decade says that 60 percent have been fatal.
- When you look at sand hole collapses worldwide the number dramatically increases and if you look at entrapments that do not end in the death of the trapped individual, the statistics would report hundreds each year.
A gentle reminder
As our dunes are recovering from this past winter’s storm and trying to become more substantial, the dune grasses are flourishing. We are finding that children are being drawn to play in the dunes and dig. Although this has never been allowed we want to urge parents and beach patrons to stay off the dunes to allow them to grow and continue to protect our beach. The Ocean City beach has one of the cleanest, finest sand you will find anywhere. Enjoy it, but please do so in a safe manner. One thing that you can always do to remain safe is limit beach activity to a time when lifeguards are on duty. Remember to always keep your feet in the sand until the lifeguard’s in the stand; it could safe a life, yours! .About Kristin Joson
Kristin Joson has been working with the Ocean City Beach Patrol for 14 years. She is the Public Education Coordinator where her main responsibility is to work with public to fulfill the first part of the OCBP mission which is Education. The OCBP mission consists of 3 components Education, Prevention, and Intervention. By educating the public about beach safety, we believe there will be fewer instances where an intervention will be necessary. In the offseason, she is an Learning Resource Teacher in Charles County where she is the Testing Coordinator and the Gifted Resource Teacher for Berry Elementary School . The OCBP consists of over 200 men and women dedicated to ocean rescue and maintaining a safe and orderly environment on Ocean City’s beach. The Surf Rescue
Technicians guard the beach seven days a week from 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Always introduce yourself to the lifeguard on your beach, they are more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
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