With an alarming amount of shark bites taking place off the shores of Long Island, including an incredibly severe shark bite recently in Rockaway Beach, Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin is teaming up with NYU Langone Hospital - Long Island to provide extra emergency training to Town of Hempstead Lifeguards.
The “Stop the Bleed” Training equips participants with the skills and knowledge needed to respond to grievous shark bites, teaching specific tourniquets and more.
More than twenty Town of Hempstead Lifeguards attended the training seminar that was held on Wednesday, August 16, at the Town Park at Point Lookout, along with numerous Town of Hempstead EMTs, to better prepare the emergency response teams of Hempstead Town to respond to this increasingly present threat.
Town of Hempstead lifeguards are already trained in identifying sharks and working with the town’s Shark Patrol to prevent shark attacks while restricting swimming access when needed. The Town of Hempstead Shark Patrol consists of watercrafts, drones and foot patrol to preemptively identify sharks while following their path.