Event aims to reduce drownings

Kauai lifeguards will hold their first ocean safety conference

The Kauai Lifeguard Association will host its inaugural Kauai Ocean Safety Awareness Conference on Friday, featuring speakers from across the state.

"Ocean Safety for Life, Keeping Kauai Safe" is the theme for the conference, targeted to help the visitor industry protect tourists from dangerous ocean conditions.

The conference will be held at the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club, and a $25 registration fee includes a continental breakfast and lunch for the event, which begins at 8 a.m.

Speakers include Keith Cabral, resort beach and pool manager at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island; Dr. Monty Downs, emergency physician at Wilcox Hospital on Kauai; and Ralph Goto, administrator of Ocean and Lifeguard Services for the City and County of Honolulu.

Other conference topics will include the future of Act 190, which governs what the state is responsible for when it comes to beaches, and the new Kauai Explorer Web site, which provides beach information and conditions on the Garden Isle.

"Our main purpose for having the conference is to reduce the number of drownings on Kauai," said Kalani Vierra, the Kauai Fire Department's Ocean Safety Bureau supervisor. "We want to educate people, especially those who work in the visitor industry, on how they can assist with promoting ocean safety within their businesses."

For more information, call Kauai Ocean Safety at (808) 241-6506.