DESTIN — About 250 tourists are taken to the HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital each year to be treated for serious or life-threatening injuries, and almost half comefrom Crab Island.
The hospital in Fort Walton Beach is the county’s only Level II Trauma Center. Specialists treat about 2,500 patients a year for traumatic injuries such as burns, gunshot wounds, falls and other complex cases.
Tourists make up about 10% of trauma patients at the hospital. And Director of Trauma Melanie Sinclair said there are about 1,000 more that come into the emergency department needing stitches or with minor injuries like a dislocated finger.
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“So far in 2022, we’re definitely coming in very aggressive with our tourists,” Sinclair said. “So we’re seeing that uptick of COVID seems to have backed off and we have much more tourism and more people living wild and free.”
Motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of traumatic injuries among tourists in 2020. However, a large portion also takeplace on the water.
Almost half of traumatic injuries suffered at Crab Island
About 42.5% of tourists who were taken to the HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital last year were treated for injuries suffered at Crab Island in Destin.
Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit Sgt. Kyle Corbitt said deputies respond to one or two calls regarding injuries at Crab Island every few weeks. Deputies transported a person recently who went down a slide into shallow water and broke a leg.
“It’s almost always a guarantee on holiday weekends. We’ll get two or three (injuries) typically,” Corbitt said. “On holiday weekends, they’ll sometime stage EMS trucks at the Coast Guard station because they know they’re going to be getting calls there.”
Some of the most common injuries Sinclair said specialists see at the hospital are from people hitting propellers or diving off boats into the shallow water.
What many don't realize is the water levels vary with the tide, Corbitt said. The water could be 3feet deep at one moment and then as the low tide comes in, the water level drops by a foot.
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“They can go park up on Crab Island and it’s in 2feet of water, but then they think it’s going to be OK to jump from a double decker pontoon or allow their kids to do that,” Corbitt said. “And obviously it doesn’t end up very well for most people.”
Many also will slip or fall off boats and hit the propeller, which can be very sharp. Corbitt said many rental and personal vessels do not have propeller guards,and people will often run into them while playing catch or during other activities in the water.
“If they’ve put the motor out of the water, kids will be around there playing, they’ll be throwing the football or baseball and adults even dive for the ball and end up diving toward the motor and cutting their arm, or their back or chest,” hesaid.
'Half of them are major injuries'
People show up at the hospital with everything from a broken neck to a deep cut down their back. Sinclair said about half theinjuries are minor fractures or cuts that don't require an extended hospital stay.
The other half can be life-altering or even fatal. A man died in 2020 after jumping head first off a double decker pontoon boat and hitting the anchor.
“Half of them are major injuries, so a spinal cord injury causing paralysis,” Sinclair said. “A head injury that either they get a really large bleed or they have a bump that’s bad enough that their brain swells, causing damage like memory loss or loss of a function because of the area that they damage.”
While a number of people have been sent to the hospital with severe injuries, only one fatality has occurred at Crab Island this year. A man drowned over Memorial Day weekend after strong currents swept him away while he was trying to repair a pontoon boat.
Corbitt said currents can be very strong, especially around the edges of the island where the water level drops to 8to 10 feet. Numerous other people had to be rescued from the water over Memorial Day weekend after getting carried out by currents.
Educating tourists
The Marine Unit and boat rental agencies have been working to educate visitors on the dangers of rip currents and shallow water with new educational videos, safety trainings and information campaigns.
“We do everything we can to try to educate everybody whenever we stop them,” Corbitt said. “Just to let them know the water’s up right now, but here in a couple of hours it’s going to be low tide again.”
Drink cozies with the message “Think before you dive” have been handed out to boaters in partnership with the HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in recent years. The other side of the cozies stresses the importance of boating sober.
The county has ranked No. 1in Florida for boating under the influence arrests for severalyears in a row, and Corbitt said it is no coincidence that alcohol is involved in several injuries at Crab Island.
“Alcohol is a huge factor. It makes them think they’re superman and they can dive headfirst off into the water,” he said. “With the sun and being out there all day, it’s going to enhance the affects of alcohol, which makes a lot of people do some stuff that they shouldn’t be doing.”
Visitors are encouraged to drink responsibly and familiarize themselves with water conditions before heading out to Crab Island. Peoplecan receive daily beach flag warning updates by texting “BEACH” to 44144.
“One hundred percent of our traumas are preventable,” Sinclair said. “I am a huge supporter of enjoying yourself, but just be responsible. Just really try to understand what your going to use as your entertainment so you can enjoy it safely and go home without having to visit the hospital on your vacation.”
