This week, acting director of the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department (HOSD), Kurt Lager, joins host Brandi Higa on the One O‘ahu Podcast talk about the City’s newest department, his priorities, updates on new facilities coming online, and what it takes to be a City lifeguard.
The brand-new Honolulu Ocean Safety Department
In a ceremony on May 29, 2024, Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed Resolution 24-103 to create a standalone Ocean Safety Department.
“It means a great deal to us,” said Acting HOSD Director Kurt Lager. “It’s going to aid us in how we function in the city. One of the things we’re looking forward to is the budget process, which is coming up soon. Ocean Safety will actually have a seat at the table as we discuss and put our requests in, and we’re going to be heard at the same level as all the other departments within the city.”
Mayor Blangiardi also signed Resolution 24-50, FD1, allowing voters to decide whether to establish an Ocean Safety Commission to oversee the new Department.
Acting Director Kurt Lager on his priorities
On May 30, 2024, Honolulu Ocean Safety made history with a ground breaking ceremony for the first-ever facility designed to be built for the lifeguard service. The facility overlooking Kailua Bay is just one of many much-needed resources coming online for the newly-created department.
“That’s going to be a really important facility for us in Kailua,” explained Lager. “It’s very well-deserved out there and I think it’s going to serve the community really well for Kailua. I would like to do the same thing in other parts of the island. We’re hoping to build a first responder center of some sort up on the North Shore. We’re working on that and possibly, something on the Leeward side as well.”
The total cost of the windward facility is $2.5 million, with its opening expected in the summer of 2025. Lager goes on, on this episode, to talk about a new tower at Kalama Beach Park becoming operational in the coming weeks.
Interested in becoming a lifeguard?
Currently, the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department is comprised of 301 positions, with room to grow. Acting Director Lager explains that while it is important to be able to pass the physical test and have a good knowledge of the ocean, it is also important that his recruits come with a few intangibles.
“Really it’s just being a good human,” he added. “Being a good worker (with) good work ethics and the ability to interact with the public. We interact with, especially the visitors on this island, more than any other agency out here. We’re at the beach in Waikiki. We are the first interaction that most of our residents and tourist have with a city official, especially when they need help or have questions.”
For more information on joining Ocean Safety or the services the department offers, visit https://emergencyservices.honolulu.gov/ocean-safety-lifeguard-services/
