Tom Houghton picks up a pair of binoculars from the sand-covered desk and slowly scans the beach in front of him. It’s June and things are starting to get busy at one of Cornwall’s biggest beaches. Stretching for more than two miles up the county’s north coast, and backed by craggy cliffs and rolling dunes that reach nearly a mile inland, Perranporth attracts crowds of sunbathers, swimmers, bodyboarders, surfers and dog walkers.
Now in his 12th season as an RNLI lifeguard, Houghton knows exactly what to look out for – from a rip current or incoming weather front, to unsuitable inflatables or beginner bodyboarders. Vigilance and prevention are fundamental to lifeguarding, “but things can change in a second”, he says. “We have to be ready to respond to anything.”
What originally started out as “just a summer job” for Houghton is now an integral part of his life. As a senior lifeguard, he is responsible for running the unit at Perranporth as well as delivering training and working with the local community on education programmes. “The combination of helping people, being outdoors, the bonds we form as teams, and being able to pass on what I’ve learned – it’s such a rewarding and fulfilling thing to do,” he says.
Despite the job’s serious nature, the mood inside the lifeguard unit is relaxed, with occasional chatter from a walkie-talkie as the lifeguards scan the beach. Houghton and his two colleagues are part of a seven-strong team on duty at Perranporth, and among the 1,632 RNLI lifeguards who patrol more than 240 beaches around the UK and the Channel Islands.
Next year will mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, which became the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1854. Its original and enduring mission is simple: to do all it can to save lives at sea. Over two centuries, the charity’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 140,000 lives. In 2022 alone, RNLI lifeguards responded to nearly 19,000 incidents, aided more than 24,000 people and saved 117 lives.
How do they do it? Through courage, dedication, extensive training … and a whole range of top-notch equipment. Here, Houghton offers an expert’s guide as to how he and his colleagues use this array of life-saving kit to uphold the RNLI’s mission.
1 Ford Ranger
This four-wheel-drive pickup serves as a highly versatile, mobile lifeguard unit and enables the crew to patrol beaches, reach hazardous situations and store and move vital life-saving equipment. More than 90 of these tough Fords are in service with the RNLI across the country.
The Ranger’s four-wheel drive capabilities are vital for navigating sandy, undulating terrain. Every year, lifeguards complete a training course to hone or refresh their driving skills for a beach environment, including how to use the differential locks in low-traction conditions.
The Ranger is customised with a PA system to announce important messages to bathers; a raised viewing platform for lifeguards to monitor the beach and the water; a VHF radio base station, and an extensive first aid kit. It’s used to haul vital equipment such as warning flags, rescue boards, wetsuits and so on, as well as to tow and launch inshore rescue boats and rescue watercraft.
2 VHF radio base station
Tucked between the Ranger’s front seats, the VHF radio base station is vital for the lifeguards’ communication network and supplements a system in each lifeguard station. “Radio reception can be affected by things like surrounding cliffs or bad weather,” says Houghton.
A mobile base station down at the water’s edge makes communication more reliable, not only among lifeguards on land and in the water, but also with other rescue authorities such as HM Coastguard.
3 Rescue boards
A lifeguard’s “bread and butter” rescue kit, the Ranger typically carries two bright yellow rescue boards. Once the lifeguards are in position on the beach, one board stays on the roof rack with the other placed in the sand nearby.
“This is what we’ll take to most situations in the water,” Houghton says. “We can grab a board and be in the sea in seconds. It’s quicker than swimming and it gives a floating platform for someone to rest on or bring a casualty back to shore.” A lifeguard will either kneel or lie face down on the board and propel themselves across the water with their arms. It may look easy, but it requires a practised combination of strength, fitness and technique.
4 Viewing platform
A bench seat across the rig at the rear of the Ranger gives lifeguards a raised mobile viewing platform, from which they can use binoculars to watch the beach and the water. “You might not think it, but this is one of our most important pieces of life-saving equipment,” says Houghton.
“Even though it’s only a few extra feet, we can see so much more than we can at ground level. It doesn’t take much of a wave to obscure your view. Having this elevated position can make the difference between spotting someone in trouble or not.”
5 Inshore rescue boat (IRB)
Perranporth is home to one of the RNLI’s 33 IRBs, which are towed from the lifeguard unit down to the water’s edge each day by the Ranger, ready for launch. Though nearly 4 metres long and 1.75 metres wide, an IRB is highly manoeuvrable, which is vital when operating in the surf zone. It has space for six sitting casualties and requires a crew of two – a helm (the driver) and a crewperson, both of whom undertake special training.
Guiding an IRB safely through pounding waves involves considerable skill. It can take a full season to learn to be a crewperson and then another season or two after that to become a helm. Like a sidecar racer, the crewperson has to adjust and position their bodyweight to aid the boat’s handling. “The front of the IRB is also hinged slightly, so when you hit a wave, it absorbs the power of the wave, making you less likely to capsize,” Houghton says.
6 Rescue water craft (RWC)
Highly responsive and agile, the RWC – popularly referred to as a jet ski – can quickly take lifeguards into demanding situations. It’s easier to navigate through bigger waves than the IRB, and the rider’s standing position offers a better view of people in the water and the surrounding conditions. Houghton says it is also often used to patrol on busy days and potentially transport people away from dangerous areas before they actually get into difficulty.
At well over 200kg, an RWC is too heavy and cumbersome to launch by hand – which is where the Ranger comes in. Lifeguards are trained to use it to quickly and precisely reverse the trailer carrying the RWC into shallow water, where the RWC is released.
7 Rescue sled
Attached to the back of every RWC is a rescue sled, a quick and effective way of carrying someone back to safety – those rescued may not even have been in the water; rising tides can quickly catch out beachgoers and leave them stranded. It’s essentially a larger, more robust bodyboard: “You just have to grab the handles and hang on.
“I once had to rescue a dog walker and his dog,” Houghton says. “They were cut off by the tide and trapped up by the cliffs, with heavy waves coming in. We didn’t want to put the dog on the sled in case it jumped off or got too scared, so I had to carry it while struggling through the waves. The owner was on the sled. He was cold and wet but very relieved!”
8 Swim fins
Of course, all lifeguards are good swimmers, but fins can be a simple and effective way of increasing their power in the water. Houghton recounts a callout to a coasteerer, who was suffering chest pains and got stuck in a cove. “We pulled up outside the cove on the RWC and I jumped in. The fins helped me to swim into the cove more quickly and they make it easier to swim out with a casualty, too,” he says. On this occasion, though, Houghton didn’t need to, as the coasteerer had “managed to climb up on to the rocks and we decided it was safer to have her winched up by the coastguard helicopter”.
Play it safe this summer: visit an RNLI-lifeguarded beach. If you get into trouble in the water, float to live, until help arrives.