Scott Vander Dussen

I love the USA 🇺🇸

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

@wtfPatriotPuppy Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words, I really appreciate that you took the time. :)

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

Reposted, since X doesn't allow edits after the first hour.

The 10-year-old victim in this video was moments from not coming back. A few seconds, a few yards of distance, and this ends very differently. And the lifeguard who went in after him would have been left to carry that largely on his own.

A firefighter, a police officer, or a paramedic who works a call that ends in a death has access to counseling, peer support, and critical incident debriefing. That exists because we decided as a country that the people we send toward the worst moments of other people's lives should not have to process those moments alone. Open water lifeguards have no guaranteed access to any of it, because they are not categorized as first responders. Same water, same outcomes, same weight afterward, different classification on paper.

That is what H.Res. 1188 is about. It calls for recognizing open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers. It is sitting in committee right now. If you watched this video and felt something, that is the thing worth doing something about.

In the meantime: watch your kids every second they are in the water, and swim near a lifeguard.

To the guards at Seabright and everywhere else, thank you. Nearly all of what you do never ends up on camera.

—

Answers to the most common questions:

"WHY DID YOU TAKE THE ORIGINAL POST DOWN?" Because I opened it with the wrong thing and couldn't edit it. I don't use social media; the only platform I've used routinely is Instagram, for my photography hobby, and I'm new to X and a bit clumsy with it. My original opening line about reposting rights was intended for media outlets, who all ask the same questions before running footage, but I phrased it poorly and it read as a lecture to everyone, which was not my intention. My mistake. The message that mattered got buried under it, so I've moved that information where it belongs, below.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP?" This happened at 3:42 PM on Saturday, July 25. I was next to tower 1, at the west end of the beach, when a sneaker wave crashed and the sound made me look up; I saw the boy's head drifting back out, about 200 yards east of me, closer to tower 2. Another man beside me saw it at the same moment and we both alerted the tower 1 guard, who radioed and got word that tower 2 was already on it. The guard you see in the video was already out of his tower and running down the sand before most people on the beach had registered anything was wrong; a second guard near tower 2 came in behind him to assist. The tower 1 guard held his position next to me, which is exactly right; you don't empty every tower on a half-mile beach for one incident. Only then did I start recording. I'm a photographer, not a lifeguard, and at 200 yards I was shooting through a telephoto lens; the compression makes it look far closer than it was. Watch the video and you'll see the responding guard waving off the bystanders who jumped in, because every untrained swimmer in that water is another liability and potentially one more person to rescue.

"WHAT WERE THE CONDITIONS THAT DAY?" Red warning flags were posted on the lifeguard towers, meaning hazardous surf, with the beach open; flags are a warning system, and lifeguards on a public beach have no authority to bar thousands of people from the water. A long-period south swell from Southern Hemisphere storms was driving dangerous surf along the coast for days before and after; the National Weather Service had a beach hazards statement in effect warning of sneaker waves, strong rip currents, and breaking waves up to 10 feet, and Santa Cruz County Fire had posted warnings two days earlier. The dangerous part of this kind of swell is the pattern: long stretches of relatively mild water, then sudden sets of intense waves. Water that looks calm when you walk in can turn violent minutes later, which is exactly how swimmers get caught out, and exactly why trained lifeguards watching the water matter. Santa Cruz lifeguards made more than 25 rescues that Saturday alone. The beach was busy and plenty of people were in the water.

"IS THE BOY OKAY?" Yes. Once he was brought ashore, I stopped recording and walked over. By the time I crossed the beach to that end, he was sitting up under his own strength and talking with the lifeguards who pulled him out, as fire and ambulance crews arrived. That moment felt private, so I chose not to film or photograph any of it. I later learned he was medically evaluated and released the same day.

"DID THE FAMILY APPROVE THIS?" I've been in contact with the boy's father since the rescue. He's aware of the video and supportive, and he and I have been working together to make sure the lifeguards get the recognition and thanks they earned.

"ARE YOU MAKING MONEY OFF THIS?" No. I haven't monetized this video on any platform, and I've released it to media outlets at no cost. Since posting it, I've heard from several lifeguards grateful that what they face on a regular basis is finally documented clearly.

FOR MEDIA OUTLETS: I shot this video and I retain the rights. For licensing and permissions, DM me here or on Instagram @santacruznow.

Video: Scott Vander Dussen / Instagram @santacruznow

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

@ARCAngelTweety I've been in contact with the boy's father since the rescue. The family is aware of the video and supportive. He and I have been working together to make sure the lifeguards get the recognition and thanks they earned.

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

That's not how copyright works. Posting a video grants X a license to display it here; it doesn't put my work in the public domain or transfer ownership to anyone who downloads it. And I haven't monetized it at all, on any platform or with any outlet. That's my choice, not a forfeiture.

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

Here's some additional information for context. Another man and I saw the boy get pulled back into the ocean and immediately notified the lifeguard tower nearest us, a full tower away from the incident. That lifeguard radioed the closer tower, and the guard you see in the video was already out of his tower and running down the sand toward the boy. The lifeguard at our tower confirmed the other tower had it and held his position, standing right behind me.

Only then did I start recording. I'm a photographer, not a lifeguard, and I was about 200 yards out shooting through a telephoto lens; the compression makes it look far closer than it was. Watch the video and you'll see the responding guard waving off the bystanders who jumped in, because every untrained swimmer in that water is another liability and potentially one more person to rescue.

The help I could offer was to document what lifeguards do regularly but is rarely captured with optics clear enough to show it. This video has raised awareness of what they face, and my hope is it builds support for House Resolution 1188, which calls for recognizing open water lifeguards as first responders.

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

You're right, not the best lead. Every newsroom that contacted me opened with the same three questions: did you shoot it, do you own it, may we use it. That line was my answer to them, and it landed as a lecture to everyone else, which wasn't my intention.

The point was to raise awareness of House Resolution 1188, which calls for recognizing our excellent open water lifeguards as first responders, the first step toward getting them the resources that classification carries.

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

Every newsroom that contacted me opened with the same three questions: did you shoot it, do you own it, may we use it. That line was my answer to them, and it landed as a lecture to everyone else, which wasn't my intention.

The point was to raise awareness of House Resolution 1188, which calls for recognizing our excellent open water lifeguards as first responders, the first step toward getting them the resources that classification carries.

[Scott Vander Dussen @VanderDussenS]

You're right, not the best lead. Every newsroom that contacted me opened with the same three questions: did you shoot it, do you own it, may we use it. That line was my answer to them, and it landed as a lecture to everyone else, which wasn't my intention.

The point was to raise awareness of House Resolution 1188, which calls for recognizing our excellent open water lifeguards as first responders, the first step toward getting them the resources that classification carries.