By TOM CALLIS By TOM CALLIS ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald staff writer Long cylindrical tubes could soon become as common to see on Big Island beaches as surfboards. Hawaii County is considering giving the South Hilo Rotary Club the OK to install
By TOM CALLIS
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Long cylindrical tubes could soon become as common to see on Big Island beaches as surfboards.
Hawaii County is considering giving the South Hilo Rotary Club the OK to install floatation devices, known as rescue tubes, across the island.
Rotarians say the foam and rubber tubes would reduce drowning deaths by a providing permanently located floatation devices that can be used by anyone to quickly respond to a swimmer in distress.
Rotary member Jack Stevenson said they will go a long way to improving safety along Hawaii’s shores.
“If you save one life, that’s the whole answer,” he said.
“It’s just the right thing to be doing.”
The Rotary club has ordered a dozen of the 50-inch-long rescue tubes from the Rescue Tube Foundation on Kauai, and wants to install the first one on Hilo Bay’s Coconut Island in the next few weeks. The club eventually wants to install about 100, Secretary Jim Wilson said.
That shouldn’t be a problem, said Clayton Honma, county Parks and Recreation deputy director, though he stressed the department has not formally approved the tubes, which would be attached to PVC pipe stuck or cemented into the ground.
A decision may come next week.
“Based on what I’m looking at so far, it looks pretty good in getting county approval,” he said.
They wouldn’t be the first tubes used on beaches in the state, or, for that matter, on the Big Island.
Waimea resident Mike Varney installed three tubes at Kua Bay, Pololu Beach, and Hapuna Beach in January after learning about the approximately 200 that volunteers have installed on Kauai over the last three years.
Varney said he was motivated to bring the tubes to the Big Island after saving a swimmer at Kua Bay about two years ago.
“I watched this guy almost drown,” he said.
“After talking with people, I just felt it (installing the tubes) would be a good thing to do,” Varney added.
He said he did it without county permission, and is waiting to hear the county’s response to the Rotary club before installing another three he purchased from the Rescue Tube Foundation.
Kauai residents Branch Lotspeich and John Gillen, both members of the Hanalei Bay Rotary Club, started the foundation over a year ago to distribute the tubes across the island and provide the pipes to mount them.
Lotspeich said the first tube was placed on a Kauai beach about three years ago after resident hung one on a tree in response to a drowning.
After that, the Hanalei Bay Rotary club got involved by purchasing additional tubes and installing poles to hang them on. That eventually lead to the formation of the nonprofit foundation, which purchases the tubes en mass from a mainland supplier.
Rotary clubs on other islands have also expressed interest. So have groups in Oregon, California and Georgia.
“We’re thinking nationally already,” he said.
Lotspeich said about 18 lives on Kauai have been saved by rescuers using the tubes.
He said they don’t replace lifeguards, but can be crucial to saving lives when they aren’t around.
“A rescue tube just sits on a pole as a 24/7 sentinel,” said Lotspeich, who described them as a “really big water noodle.”
“It’s always there. Anybody can use it.”
He said tube and pipe costs $80 for each set.
The tubes have a lifespan of 18 to 24 months, depending on how exposed they are to sunlight, and cost $56 to replace, Lotspeich said.
Wilson said the South Hilo Rotary Club will raise the money through its annual Hilo-Huli fundraiser, held May 6.
The replacement costs shouldn’t be a problem, he said.
Lotspeich said vandalism and theft have not been a significant problem on Kauai.
He estimated up to five have gone missing, either taken or not returned after being used.
Lotspeich said they also help during non-water-related emergencies.
Each pole is numbered, and he is working on developing a mapping system that so that dispatchers know their locations.
If someone is in need of help, they can give almost their exact location by saying which pole they are near, he said.
“We’re creating almost like mile markers on roads,” Lotspeich said.
“And we haven’t had anything like that before.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
