HAULOVER BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - As spring break approaches, lifeguards with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue organized a water safety demonstration to raise awareness about common emergency situations at the beach.

The demo is set to cover topics such as rip currents, boating safety, and the risks associated with digging holes in the sand. This comes after a 7-year-old girl from Indiana died after she dug a hole in a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, South Florida experiences its windiest season in March and April. Rip currents can be tricky to spot and are extremely dangerous to beachgoers as it can pull them further into the ocean. The United States Lifesaving Association reports that 80% of its rescues are related to rip currents.

Officials hope this exercise will provide the public with important safety tips and to remind them of the possible dangers at South Florida beaches.

“What we need to do is have people make sure they check the conditions, make sure they know what’s going on before they come to the beach, in order to avoid these things,” said Miami-Dade Fire Ocean Rescue Beach Safety Manager Captain Matthew Sparling.

One of the demonstrations done by officials showed the dangers of digging sand holes at the beach.

“We don’t want to panic anyone. I understand. Kids come to beach, they’re going to play in the sand, they’re going to dig holes, that’s cool, that’s fine, that’s normal, but anything under knee deep, we basically recommend you to stop, don’t do it,” said Sparling.

The demonstration showed how easy it is for the sand hole to collapse and how difficult it is to locate and rescue the person from the hole.

“We’re trying to look for the head,” said one Miami-Dade Fire Rescue member as crews conducted the demonstration.

“We can’t really use heavy shovels, if we hit somebody with a shovel, we can kill them. Once it happens, it’s very difficult for rescuers to get to the person. While they are digging, they are constantly having sand go on top of the individuals and we have about five minutes to get them out before permanent brain damage because they are not able to breathe,” said Sparling.

To demonstrate the hard task, rescuers frantically worked to locate a buried mannequin under the sand, taking them nearly four minutes.

“And we knew where we put the mannequin. We couldn’t find it,” said one fire crew member.

Lifeguards also provided an important lesson on the dangers of getting caught in a rip current.

The lifeguards showed a rescue scenario involving a person trapped in a rip current near a rock jetty.

“What people don’t even realize that they are stuck in a rip current, they start moving away from the shore and then they say ‘Well, I don’t want to be here,’ They start trying to go against the rip current, struggle, start to panic, use up all their energy, and ultimately drown before someone comes to rescue them,” said Sparling.

Rescue crews shared tips on what a person can do if they are caught in a rip current.

“The best way If are caught into a rip current is, you basically don’t panic, try to wait for help, try to swim parallel to shore. Rip currents by nature tend to be narrow so, by being able to swim parallel to shore, you can get out of the rip current and you can use the waves in that situation to try to get yourself back in and conserve your energy,” said Sparling.

Officials said the best way to enjoy South Florida beaches is to know conditions before you head out and try to go to beaches with lifeguards on duty.

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