Oak Island Water Rescue practices new lifesaving techniques ahead of Memorial Day weekend

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — One Brunswick County beach town is practicing water rescue protocols ahead of the busy summer season. 

“Even for our more experienced boat operators, it’s still great training to go out and just be fully up to date for the summer season,” Oak Island Water Rescue Chief Carl Mauney said. 

Oak Island Water Rescue crews were in the water Monday morning learning lifesaving techniques ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Monday’s exercises included retrieving victims from mock drownings.  

Carl Mauney is the Chief of Oak Island Water Rescue. He said this training is in perfect timing because it’s National Safe Boating Week.  

“We’re out here, we’ve got our training going on. We’ve got safety personnel to make sure everything happens correctly, our life jackets. So, yeah, we are definitely practicing boater safety,” Mauney said. 

James Beadle is a Lieutenant with Oak Island Water Rescue. He said his favorite part of the training is getting hands-on experience because it helps prepare him and his team for the most unexpected situations.  

“This is really pretty advanced training to improve our skills with operating boats in a variety of conditions,” Beadle said. 

Beadle said it’s important to stay up to date on water safety tips because life-saving tactics and technology continue to evolve. 

“We’re all volunteer but I say, ‘can you believe we get paid to do this?’ It really is a lot of fun to be out in the waves, learning new skills, pushing our boats to their performance capabilities,” Beadle said. 

Along with this weeklong training, Oak Island has recently introduced its aerial drone. It’s already been used once, saving a swimmer in distress underneath Oak Islands pier.