“You can't see them from sitting here”: Evaluating beach user understanding of a rip current warning sign

Alongshore correspondence of beach users and rip channels at Pensacola Beach, Florida

“…The tendency for beach users to exercise swimming site selection in terms of convenience rather than safety or the absence of a rip current puts them at risk and suggests that a different approach to hazard mitigation is required. The NOAA rip current sign was designed to warn beach users of the hazard and instruct them on how to escape a rip; simple modifications to the sign could allow beach users to identify and potentially avoid a rip (Brannstrom et al 2015). A complementary approach would be to redirect beach users to relatively safe areas on the beach, similar to the ''swim between the flags'' campaign promoted by Surf Lifesaving Australia (see Sherker et al 2010).…”

“…Managing the hazard poses a challenge for officials who are charged with keeping swimmers safe by strategically locating lifeguards at dangerous and heavily used beaches, and through the placement of warning signs designed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). While the signs show beach users how to ''break the grip of the rip,'' it is reasonable to expect that most beach users are not able to translate the sign into a realworld feature that they should avoid (Brannstrom et al 2015). Recent evidence suggests that the majority of beach users at Pensacola Beach, Florida (Caldwell et al 2013), and Galveston Island and Port Aransas, Texas (Brannstrom et al 2014), are unable to identify a rip current in photographs of the surf zone from above and eye-level, respectively.…”

Examining rip current escape strategies in non-traditional beach morphologies

“…Ballantyne et al 2005;Sherker et al 2010;Caldwell et al 2013;Brannstrom et al 2014). Furthermore, preventative beach safety signage has been shown to be ineffective (White and Hyde 2010;Matthews et al 2014;Brannstrom et al 2015) and often ignored (McCool et al 2008;Sherker et al 2010). Hatfield et al (2012), however, showed that a dedicated and visual-based educational rip current intervention using posters and pamphlets can be effective with long-term information retention.…”

YouTube Videos and the Rip Current Hazard: Swimming in a Sea of (Mis)information

“…While numerous factors lead to rip current drowning (Brander, Bradstreet, Sherker, & MacMahan, 2011), recent studies have shown that despite long-standing education and safety intervention efforts , public knowledge about rip currents and how to identify them is poor (Brannstrom, Brown, Houser, Trimble, & Santos, 2015;Caldwell, Houser, & Neyer-Arendt, 2013;Shaw et al, 2014;Sherker, Williamson, Hatfield, Brander, & Hayen, 2010;Woodward, Beaumont, Russell, & MacLeod, 2015).…”

“…It may also help develop informed reactions and reduce the likelihood of panic, which is the main emotional response of people caught in rips (Attard, Brander, & Shaw, 2015;Drozdzewski et al, 2012;McCarroll, Castelle, Brander, & Scott, 2015). Educational campaigns should not assume the target audience already understands what a rip current is as infrequent beachgoers, migrants, and tourists from noncoastal areas may lack knowledge of rip currents (Ballantyne, Carr, & Hughes, 2005;Brannstrom et al, 2015;Williamson et al, 2012). Future producers of YouTube videos should therefore try to include basic definitions and descriptions of rips to improve overall rip current understanding and awareness and could also attempt to target, or at least highlight, particular demographic groups that may be at more risk.…”