Butch Arbin: Hi! I am Captain Butch Arbin with the Ocean City, Maryland, Beach Patrol. We are talking about how to have a safe and enjoyable day at the beach. This clip has to do with clothing and protective wear that you should take to the beach. A day at the beach is a great time, but you want to be prepared. You should take cover up clothing with you when you go. Small children, although, will enjoy being in the sun. After some sun exposure, you should insist that they put a shirt on and spend sometime out of the sun.

Also, a hat is a good idea. Hat will do two things. Number one, it will keep the sun off your face and also will help you to maintain a cool body temperature out in the sun. Finally, footwear is important. There are two reasons why we need footwear at the beach. Number one, has to do with cut feet. There are broken shells, possible glass, and other things in the sand from people littering and leaving things behind and if you step on one of those and cut your foot, it going to affect your day at the beach.

The second reason why footwear is important is the sand. Sand gets extremely hot. Sand can be much hotter than the air temperature around it and it can cause serious and severe burns. One or two steps on the beach without shoes may be tolerable, by the time you walk across a quarter mile at beach that temperature continues to go up and up until it creates a serious burn.

One of the things I have seen is parents with shoes on, holding a child by the hand, leaving a child without shoes across hot sand; the child is burning their feet, as the adult is comfortable in shoes. Please be aware that the small children can burn their feet also. You may want to carry them or insist they wear shoes. Again, the sand can be hot, so you need to wear shoes, wear hat, and bring protective clothing with you. This will lead to a safe and enjoyable day at the beach.

In our next clip, we are going to talk about bringing water and drinking plenty of it, while you are at the beach.