Off-duty lifeguards rescue five people at Robert Moses State Park
Jones Beach lifeguard Brandon Cullen was surfing with two other lifeguards Tuesday night at Robert Moses State Park when Cullen says he heard “yelling” from the beach. The three lifeguards sprang into action, rescuing five people in total.
Five people needed to be rescued at Robert Moses Field 2 on Tuesday after lifeguards had left for the day.
As night fell at Robert Moses State Park Tuesday night, well past swimming hours with no lifeguards on duty, there was sudden yelling at Field 2.
Jones Beach lifeguard Brandon Cullen happened to be surfing there with his sister Cassidy, a Town of Babylon lifeguard, and a fellow Jones Beach lifeguard named Gerard.
Cullen said he paddled over and “saw a guy getting pulled out in a rip current.”
He said as he was pulling the man to shore, he heard more yelling down the beach. Cullen said four other people, trying to help the initial victim, got “swept out too” and needed help themselves.
He said his sister and friend paddled over to the four, helping to bring them in to safety. Cullen said once he got the initial victim to shore, he went back out to help the others.
“It was very dark at the time,” Cullen said, so dark in fact that people on the beach were shining their phone flashlights for light.
Jones Beach lifeguard captain Tammy Metzger says that anyone who gets caught in a rip current shouldn't panic.
“Rip currents don’t pull you down. They pull you out,” she said. If you feel yourself getting pulled out, Metzger said to “flip and float” or swim parallel to shore.
Metzger said on Tuesday there were more than 40 rescues at Jones Beach Central Mall alone.
