That's just from the 1,000 feet of Casino Beach patrolled by six Santa Rosa Island Authority lifeguards. Erik Hill has gone through CPR training each of the six years he has worked as a lifeguard, but has never had to use it to save an unconscious swimmer. Lifeguards including Hill do have to use their swimming skills, especially when the yellow flag is up, like it was that Saturday, warning of potentially dangerous conditions.
Rip currents are most common when it is windy.
The wind pushes the large waves to shore, and the water flows rapidly back to sea, pulling sand and swimmers with it. The excavated sand makes the the spot deeper and the water move even faster. The panicky swimmer typically attempts to swim to shore against the powerful current. The correct response is to swim parallel to shore to get away from the outflowing current, and then swim to land. But if you are not a strong swimmer there is no shame in yelling for help, as did the rescued swimmer.