Naomi (L) from Lake Como and Priscilla from Key West pose with the Blogmobile in front of Days. Paul Goldfinger photo. 5/3/13 ©
Friday, May 3, 2013
It seems that FEMA believes that boardwalks are just for recreation. Tell that to the three people who were saved today in Asbury Park.
We met Naomi and Priscilla today over by Days. They stopped for ice cream in the Grove, but they had just performed a good deed on the Asbury boards. It was late in the afternoon, and they were enjoying the end of a sunny afternoon when they spotted a scary event out in the surf. Back where the waves were breaking, a father and his two young children were in a small fishing boat. The kids were wearing heavy jackets and life vests. The waves got rough, and the boat capsized.
These observant women called 911, while some nearby surfers came to the rescue. The surfers helped the children make it to shore. The father managed to get back also, but he had a head injury. More help quickly arrived at the boardwalk.
What if Asbury Park didn’t have that boardwalk where our out-of-towners could stroll and watch and enjoy and help others? And how about those surfers who who were on the scene? That Asbury beachfront became a place where lives could be saved. It’s not just about recreation. It’s how things work near the ocean at the Jersey Shore.
—Paul Goldfinger @Blogfinger
Dedicated to Naomi and Priscilla: Joe Temperley “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.”
Reblogged this on Blogfinger and commented:
This story is part of the patchwork of articles we ran to persuade FEMA to finance our post-Sandy boardwalk reconstruction.
It’s great that these women were able to see the problem and call for help. I agree that we need the boardwalk in Ocean Grove for the same reasons. It is also a safety issue. I know the Casino is part of Asbury Park, but it’s being closed is an inconvenience.
Last weekend I walked to AP from Ocean Grove on the boardwalk (the part that’s there), and because the Casino walkway is closed, I had to walk on the beach to get back over to AP. I know this isn’t on the topic, but in these tough financial times, one of my favorite free activities is to just go for a walk on the boardwalk to AP from OG. If they don’t open up the Casino, will we have to pay to go on the beach in AP, just to walk there from OG?
I still can’t believe that FEMA thinks it’s only recreational. Are the other towns’ boardwalks there for some OTHER reason? As an OG homeowner, I pay taxes to a municipality, Neptune, just like my friends in Bradley Beach, but because of OG’s beach being run by the CMA, we get no boardwalk money. It seems unfair.
Joe: Suppose one or more of those three people needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation or perhaps they were bleeding out. That phone call to 911, made by people who were there on the boardwalk, made before the victims were brought to shore, could have made the difference between life and death. If they weren’t there, perhaps that 911 call wouldn’t have been made at all or quickly enough. And maybe those surfers, given a choice of beaches to ride, preferred to be in a place where there are people around. Maybe those surfers were just two guys or girls who like to know that help is around if they need it.
Why would you be so negative about this issue? The CMA received letters from many people who have benefitted by boardwalk medical assistance, and I know one of them personally who was in a bad cardiac situation and received immediate attention thanks to the boardwalk staff. The EMS arrived very fast because of that immediate phone call and they provided urgent care on the boardwalk.
Surfers don’t need a boardwalk to surf. Surf off Island Beach all the time, no boardwalk. They were there because the waves were good, and they made the rescue.
While the boardwalk may be more then a recreational facility, it isn’t a factor in emergency services. In many cases it is a hindrance to rescue operations