How to Escape a Rip Tide Alive.

Drowning sucks. Plus, bloated and blue dead bodies washing up on the beach turns the chicks off. Here's how you can keep it from happening to you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• A cool head in a dangerous situation.

1. If you happen to be swimming in the ocean and find yourself drawn out to sea by a rip tide the first thing to do is to REMAIN CALM. Sure the shore can seem miles away, but everything will be fine if you DO NOT PANIC.
2. DO NOT TRY AND FIGHT THE CURRENT. Swimming against the current will only tire you out and drown you that much faster.
3. Calmly SWIM SIDEWAYS (parallel to the beach). Picture yourself to be in an invisble river. You cannot swim up river, but you can swim to shore. You might reach the shore down river, but you will reach it.
4. Once you've freed yourself from the rip current begin swimming to shore. As you approach the shore, do your best to signal for help from a lifeguard. Don't worry about how you'll look asking for help ... think about how you'll look dead if you don't get help.
5. The most important thing to remember is that you must remain calm. Use your brain and you'll get back to shore alive.

Tips & Warnings

• It's always best to swim with a buddy and it's more fun.
• Watch for rip tides. Look for the areas where there are no waves breaking in otherwise crashing surf. This is the area where the water is rushing out ... Don't swim there.
• Rip tides are not always visible. Always use caution when swimming in the ocean.