To the Rescue

Keeping people safe is what lifeguard Kapua Chang, the first and only female rescue watercraft operator in Hawai‘i, does best. | Photo by Lawrence Tabudlo

Chang is a lifeguard with the city — one of approximately 270 dedicated employees who bravely patrol beaches from 43 lifeguard towers around O‘ahu. In her role, she must be ready to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other life-saving measures on beachgoers at a moment’s notice. This duty includes pulling swimmers from pummeling shore breaks and treacherous ocean currents, too.

But Chang is also unique among Honolulu’s lifeguards in that she is the first and only female rescue watercraft operator in the state. It’s a distinction she’s held since graduating from the city’s Ocean Safety Rescue Operator program​ in December. In the aftermath, she has naturally attracted her share of attention, particularly among young female admirers hoping to follow in her uplifting wake.

“My goal is to help inspire more women to try out and become a part of the team​,” says Chang, whose responsibility within the rescue watercraft program involves patrolling waters up to a mile offshore and responding to emergency calls from overturned vessels and surfers in distress.​ “I’ve noticed a few of the women are more interested in applying for the position and having them join the program would be greatly beneficial.”

She pauses briefly before adding, “To be on a Jet Ski and to see young girls look up and smile and wave at you, well, that just makes my day.”

Of course, her days would be so much better if people would simply heed her or any other lifeguard’s advice. From her experience, the biggest obstacle is dealing with ill-prepared tourists, who at times complicate matters by refusing to follow the signs and verbal warnings.

“They aren’t given the proper guidance,” observes Chang, “so when they come to a beach, they’re not given a video intro of the basic warnings they need to know. And when they spend all this money to come to the islands and enjoy beautiful Hawai‘i, and we’re telling them, ‘No, you can’t go in that water,’ and it looks completely flat and beautiful to them at that moment, they’re usually like, ‘Why? Who are you? And why are you telling me I can’t go in?’

“The next second, they’re jumping in the water and a massive set rolls in, and then they’re just blindsided by it.”
On most days, Chang and her ​f​ellow lifeguards must deal with a variety of medical incidents — everything from asthma attacks to beachgoers stepping on sea urchins or being struck by​ a surfboard. On other days, it’s a bit more intense where “we’re​ constantly running in and out of the water, and we’re never really dry.”

Those occasions can be fraught with more serious consequences — broken limbs, dislocated shoulders and even spinal injuries. At worst, there are Condition 5 episodes in which a swimmer is pulled from the water and is unresponsive.
Such experiences can be taxing on a lifeguard’s heart and mind.​ 

“It’s just a part of the job,” says Chang about statewide drownings, which average about 40 annually. “You’ve got to have tough skin to be able to do something like this. And when a Condition 5 happens, you just have to trust your skills and your ability to get somebody in (the watercraft) and out of the water and then perform the proper medical attention that your patient needs, just so that hopefully they can go home safely to their family.”

Chang is a relative newcomer to the world of lifeguarding, having joined the force in the summer of 2021. Prior to that, she held a job at Kualoa Ranch “running the ATV tours and working at Secret Island.”

But once she determined her future rested in protecting people in aquatic environments, the sea became the limit.
“As soon as I became a lifeguard, this (rescue watercraft operator) was my goal,” she says.

Currently stationed in District 1 (Honolulu), Chang finds inspiration in past and current watermen and waterwomen. She credits Rell Sunn, a pioneer in the world of women’s surfing who died in 1998, and veteran lifeguards Terry Ahue and Brian Keaulana, as among those who have motivated her to join the lifeguard ranks.

“Rell was one of the prominent females to come through the program. I wish I could have met her, and it makes me sad to not have really gotten that chance to work with her. But it’s an honor to know that we, as Hawaiian women who worked ocean safety, worked our butts off trying to set a path for females,” Chang says.

“And Uncle Terry and Uncle Brian are the guys who started up the program of rescue operator and they’re the top guys that have set the legacy.

“I think being born and raised here, it brings me pride and great happiness to be able to help my people and to still remain connected to the ocean while I’m serving the public as a lifeguard,” she continues. “There’s a huge responsibility being a part of ocean safety, especially here in Hawai‘i, because there are so many incredible legends that have put this program to where it is now.

“I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps.”

Although she was raised in the beach town of Lā‘ie, Chang wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination a water enthusiast. In fact, when she unexpectedly chose to try out in the eighth grade for the Kahuku High and Intermediate School water polo team, she was literally “thrown into the deep end” of the pool and told to guard the net.

“I grew up going to the beach, but I was not a swimmer — I had to build my swimming ability,” explains the 29-year-old Chang, the eldest of three girls (and one older foster brother) born to Raquel and Kai-O Chang. “It wasn’t like my immediate family were big-wave surfers or swimmers or whatnot. I had to learn a lot of it on my own, and the prominent watermen in my family had either passed away or were living off island.”

Despite the early struggles in water polo, Chang persevered. Along the way, she discovered that she had “a great arm,” and by her senior year at Kahuku High, she turned into an all-state goalie. That led to a collegiate career in women’s water polo — first with Riverside City College in California and later with University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where she earned her degree in Hawaiian Studies.

Still, being an accomplished college water polo player didn’t necessarily turn her into a capable lifeguard.

“There’s a big difference. I mean yeah, you can be a great water polo player, but you’re in a pool and you’re not dealing with these other aspects, like being caught in a current and understanding the wind, the swells and the tides, and just knowing how a wave and sets work,” she explains.

These days, Chang shoulders “a heavy responsibility” as a role model for young, hopeful women intent on joining her as a rescue watercraft operator. She certainly doesn’t take her job lightly and believes it’s her obligation “to continue proving myself” and “strive to be better.” 

“I’ve been given so much from my ‘ohana and my community that it’s only fitting that I continue to give back by protecting and serving the public,” she says. “Whenever I have had to perform a rescue or help with a medical, it feels good going home afterward and knowing that I did something good for the day.”