Rip Current Awareness Week begins on June 3, and with good reason. Rip tides are the number one beach danger, according to WebMD.
Often appealing to swimmers because waters look calm on the surface, rip tides and undertows are unpredictable and can be deadly. And since most beaches do not have lifeguards, swimming in new or unfamiliar waters is a risk.
The smartphone app, for Blackberry, Android and iOS, will track real-time rip current threats entered into the data system by lifeguards who patrol the coast. Here's how the team sees this working, according to a press statement:
A lifeguard with a smartphone in a participating community can travel down the beach and stop when a rip current is identified. Using the app, the lifeguard will enter basic information about the rip current (approximate size, strength, adjacency to a structure, etc), and record its location using the phone’s built-in GPS. Lifeguards can also use the app or the web-interface to keep track of rescues via a free-form description field.
Lifeguards can also view reports of rid tides from the past 24 hours on a map or list. However, since most beaches don't have lifeguards, the app won't help all beachgoers -- at least not yet.
NJSGC’s Coastal Processes Specialist and Stevens Professor Jon Miller hopes to test the app in one or two coastal towns in New Jersey early this summer. Once it gets off the ground, the app could provide life-saving data to lifeguards and the National Weather Service, the group says.
Would you download this app before heading to the beach, or take your chances? Tell us in the comments.