NewsChannel 3 is taking action and getting results on safety in Virginia Beach.
Numbers are now being drilled into the 49 lifeguard stands on the Oceanfront resort area.
"It is on all four sides. I would say that this is the first time we've done that,” says Chief Tom Gill of the Virginia Beach lifesaving service.
NewsChannel 3 brought this idea to the city last June after a viewer saw it on a beach in California.
It came after two people drowned--a man trying to save two girls in trouble in the ocean and a young boy caught in a rip current.
"We're hoping that these numbers will give people another identifier of where they are on the beach. And if their children do get lost, they're able to come to the lifeguard and say 'well, I was at stand 33' and we can get them back to their parents quicker,” says Gill.
"We saw the number this morning and it helped us. We are at number 19, so it helped us to know where we are,” says Liliane Farag from Northern Virginia.
"Even as vast, how big this whole area is, I think it's a great addition to the beach,” says Jim Pellegrini of Upstate New York.
Still, lifeguards say this shouldn't replace good old advice.
“Always keep your eyes on your children. Don't let them out of your sight for a minute because, obviously, the crowds we get down there,” says Gill.
