Each year we have the incredible opportunity of meeting amazing people. This video was of Ernesto who was a sixteen year old volunteer from a town called San Juan. Each year, Ernesto volunteers during the busy week of Semana Santa with the countries Red Cross to lend his support to helping save lives. Here Olin gave his sunglasses to Ernesto who ended up looking radical in his classy new shades.

Brotherhood Transcends Borders is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

Each year we gather as many supplies as we can carry on our backs, so that we can donate the valuable equipment to areas in desperate need. This year the Huntington City Beach lifeguards were great with donating old and unused swim fins, and we were able to get them directly to the Nicaraguan Red Cross Head Quarters in the capital city Managua. These swim fins will be directly distributed to volunteer lifeguards in Nicaragua who will continue to save lives.

We are always looking for more equipment, and as we continue to develop our agency, we will be able to ship much needed supplies and equipment to the beaches we maintain. So please be on the look out!

Donating Swim Fins to the Red Cross is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

Each year we look for volunteers to send to the beaches we manage. Volunteers must be at least American Red Cross First Responders or Emergency Medical Technicians, and serve as lifeguards in the United States. As we grow we want to continue to expand the range of volunteers we bring to include nurses and doctors for on site medical facilities, but are currently in the process of working the logistics out with various governments.

Typically we select volunteers through a scholarship and essay program, and provide each with room and board, airfare, equipment, and a regional tour of the area they are sent to. For all of this we expect 40 hours of volunteer work during the peak days of their stay. It is our goal to not only supply the vital need but to build lasting relationships with the people in the regions we service.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please let us know. We will be using this website to announce the time frames and to enable those interested to download an application.

Volunteering with the ISLA is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

ISLA started was started in 2008 by four Huntington Beach Lifeguards and Junior Lifeguard Instructors. The idea started as a realization that the four guards wanted to continue to contribute in some way to lifeguarding, even after they had moved on from working every summer at the beach.

The idea continued to manifest among the four lifeguards Peter Eich, Scott Hunthausen, Olin Patterson, and Henry Reyes, when Scott begin to tell a story about a drowning that occured very close to him in Nicaragua. From this experience, Scott heard about the appalling rates of drownings that occur in the areas of Central America.

We decided to take action. And after spending the next months planning out a strategy, contacting the right people at the Red Cross in Nicaragua, and getting our non profit paper work together, we set out on a bicycle trip from Virginia to California to raise money to send as many lifeguards as possible to Nicaragua during the Easter weekend (Easter weekend has the highest drowning rates in Central America because it is the largest holiday).

After 61 days on bicycles and the completion of a successful fundraiser, we were able to send eight lifeguards to Nicaragua the following Spring. That Spring we made incredible contacts, secured beaches, and over all made a significant impact in saving lives and assisting with medical aides. We also saw the incredible need and decided from that point on we were going to give this project our all and do all we can offering support, money and volunteers to the areas of the world that needed it the most.

The following year we were able to send another batch of lifeguards down to the area, and extend the reach of the beaches we patrolled. We continued to make an impact with saving lives, providing equipment, performing medical aides, and continuing to affirm the massive need for more resources and supplies.

This year we are in contact with lifeguard agencies in Ecuador, and hope to raise enough proceeds to send a team to Ecuador during their peak season, and continue to send guards to Nicaragua. We are always looking for people to get involved to support us in growing the International Surf Lifesaving Association.

About ISLA is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

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Our olympic swimmer rKelly looks great in a speedo.

matt henry sutures at 2am

things i dont like to swim with.

Ayudan una Niña…

Last Spring, seven dear friends and myself flew down to Nicaragua to volunteer ourselves with the Nicaraguan Red Cross. The experience proved to be life changing as we spent two weeks working with the country and learning so much about the Nicaraguans and ourselves. Over the weekend of Easter (the nation’s only official holiday) the country experiences over 100 drownings every year. This video is a short clip of us introducing our life guard techniques to the president of the ‘Cruz Roja Nicaraguense’ as we compared and debated our techniques to theirs. In the end, we made some incredible rescues, handled some serious medical aides, and had a wonderful time meeting some amazing Nicaraguans. This year we will be returning for Easter to be reunited with our friends and to volunteer our services again. We are having a fundraiser for the event on April 23-24, 2010 (for the 2011 year). It is not for the faint of heart, but any adventure seekers are more than welcome to join us… the objective? bring your running shoes, bicycles, tricycles or whatever and join us as we run from Santa Barbara to Dana Point (about 200 miles). We will have all the necessities: hotel, chase cars, tshirts, etc. as we dash south along the coastline for a weekend. There is an information meeting about the Nicaraguan trip and the fundraiser if anyone is interested this Saturday at the Junior Guard Head Quarters in Huntington Beach (103 PCH). Join Us!

Lifeguarding Techniques is a post from: Olin A. Patterson

matt henry sutures at 2am

things i dont like to swim with.

Ayudan una Niña…

Last Spring, seven dear friends and myself flew down to Nicaragua to volunteer ourselves with the Nicaraguan Red Cross. The experience proved to be life changing as we spent two weeks working with the country and learning so much about the Nicaraguans and ourselves. Over the weekend of Easter (the nation’s only official holiday) the country experiences over 100 drownings every year. This video is a short clip of us introducing our life guard techniques to the president of the ‘Cruz Roja Nicaraguense’ as we compared and debated our techniques to theirs. In the end, we made some incredible rescues, handled some serious medical aides, and had a wonderful time meeting some amazing Nicaraguans. This year we will be returning for Easter to be reunited with our friends and to volunteer our services again. We are having a fundraiser for the event on April 23-24, 2010 (for the 2011 year). It is not for the faint of heart, but any adventure seekers are more than welcome to join us… the objective? bring your running shoes, bicycles, tricycles or whatever and join us as we run from Santa Barbara to Dana Point (about 200 miles). We will have all the necessities: hotel, chase cars, tshirts, etc. as we dash south along the coastline for a weekend. There is an information meeting about the Nicaraguan trip and the fundraiser if anyone is interested this Saturday at the Junior Guard Head Quarters in Huntington Beach (103 PCH). Join Us!

Lifeguarding in Nicaragua is a post from: Olin A. Patterson