Saving Lives: A History of the Ocean City Beach Patrol

Savings Lives is the first published comprehensive history of the Ocean City Beach Patrol (OCBP), an organization of highly trained ocean lifeguards whose enviable record of safety is renowned. Established in 1930 to protect recreational swimmers in the open waters in front of the Coast Guard Station in Ocean City, Maryland, OCBP today guards some nine miles of shoreline. Each summer, in calm seas, or during days of turbulent surf, high waves, and strong rip currents, the "surf rescue technicians" make 2,500-4,500 ocean rescues, with individual lifeguards often executing multiple "saves" in a single day. Illustrated with over 250 photographs, the narrative chronicles ninety years of development from a cadre of seven men in 1930 to an organization of over 200 men and women today who are among the best trained and most efficient "athletes with a buoy" in the world. Major attention is given to the leadership and life saving activities of OCBP's three principal captains: Robert S. Craig (OCBP 1935-1987), George A. Schoepf (OCBP 1950-1997), and Butch Arbin (OCBP 1973-present). The author, a member of the beach patrol from 1960-65 and Captain Craig's son, is a professional historian and author of eight other books, including Hellgate's Red Rivers in a Yellow Field: Memoirs of the Vietnam Era (2018).