What is the Wristband Program?
Lost children are an everyday occurrence along the beaches in North Myrtle Beach and, during peak season, lifeguards and beach patrol receive as many as 30 lost child calls per day. As a result, North Myrtle Beach Beach Patrol instituted a free wristband program as a community service to our residents and visitors. The intent of the program is to assist lost children or people with dementia in finding their base location, or the closest lifeguard tower where their parents, guardians or caregivers are located.
Here’s how the program works:
Beach Patrol officers supply lifeguards with plain wristbands and permanent markers. Wristbands are given to and secured upon request or upon observation by lifeguards to children and people with dementia, with the consent of their parents, legal guardians or caretakers. Lifeguards write the lifeguard tower number on the wristband to identify the base location. Parents are encouraged to write other information on the wristband as needed.
Lifeguards then explain to children or people with dementia what to do if they get lost or cannot find their base location. As you can imagine, this explanation is an extremely critical part of the program.
Summary
This is an easy and cost-effective way to help children or people with dementia stay near their base location or to find their base location if they get lost. In the summer of 2008, North Myrtle Beach Beach Patrol and lifeguards issued around 4,500 wristbands.
