Silver Beach County Park has received its lifesaving robot, EMILY, and its lifeguards have begun training with the device.
Police, parks officials, and the lifeguards gathered on Monday to officially receive EMILY — or Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard — from the families of Kory Ernster and Emily MacDonald. The two drowned in Lake Michigan off South Haven in 2022, and their families got together and decided to honor their lost loved ones by making a difference at beaches.
Stephen Ernster, Kory’s father, told us they sought to give EMILY units to beaches where they would be the most effective. That meant Silver Beach and the city beach in New Buffalo.
“We wanted to do organizations that have lifeguard units and basically take water safety as their priority,” Ernster said. “They were the two lifeguarding groups that have good, wonderful, functional teams. So they were an obvious choice. We wanted to start with those units that have the lifeguard programs intact and successfully being run.”
EMILY is essentially a large remote-controlled boat that can reach a struggling swimmer faster than a lifeguard. Lifeguards on the beach could control EMILY, giving the swimmer something to cling to, while other lifeguards make their way out to the swimmer.
The Silver Beach lifeguards got their first training with EMILY Monday with the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. The group’s Dave Benjamin told us when people come to a community and spend money at the beach, they should have protection.
“Lifeguards are part of commonly accepted water safety best practices and they should be implemented at every beach that has a public parking lot that charges for parking,” Benjamin said.
The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project worked with the families of Ernster and MacDonald to find suitable beaches to receive the EMILY units. Ernster told us only Silver Beach and the city beach in New Buffalo were eligible.
It was a rough day in the lake Monday as the training was held and a crowd stood on the beach to watch EMILY in action.
The cost of the device is $12,800.
