Veteran has eye for rip currents

FOLLY BEACH — Caleb Hund spotted the rip current before it began pulling swimmers away from his post Wednesday. Orange float in hand, he plowed into the waves, bringing a boy to shore who might not have come back otherwise.

In his fifth year as a lifeguard at Folly Beach County Park, Hund said he has an eye for the currents, which may have played a role in at least one death and several near-deaths in the Charleston area in the past week.

"I can spot it pretty easily," Hund said, "but to the common person who comes out here, it's hard to notice."

Within the 500-yard length of the county park and near the Folly Beach Fishing Pier, guards such as Hund keep a vigilant watch on the ocean. But for the rest of the length of the beach, safety is left to the care of beachgoers. Most have not undergone the level of preparation that Hund has.

Every week, Hund, 20, and the other guards receive 30-minute training sessions in each of several skill areas: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator operation, bag valve-mask use and spinal motion restriction. Guards also must kayak one mile, swim one mile and run five miles.

Even when he's not on his stand, Hund stands at rigid attention, his shoulders squared and his eyes to the ocean. He is a junior at The Citadel, but his posture is shared even by high school-age guards at the park.

"You can't let your guard down at all," Hund said. "Your job never really stops until you're in the car leaving."