Lifeguard Ernst has been saving lives for 34 years: ‘You take this home’ | Inland

Ernst Brokmeier of the Rescue Brigade Ernst Brokmeier Rescue Brigade Rescue Brigade Rescue Brigade

Michel van Bergen

Katwijk aan Zee – “Our slogan for recruiting volunteers is: ‘An experience for a lifetime’. Well in my case this is correct,” says 46-year-old Ernst Brokmeijer, who started as a youth lifeguard when he was 13. On the boulevard of Katwijk aan Zee, he hands out enthusiastic wristbands to young children and their parents on Saturday during a well-attended open day of the Rescue Brigade Katwijk. “This is a big part of the job. Be preventive. Today we are launching our annual campaign for the tapes on which parents can write their phone number. That makes a huge difference in the number of lost children. Yet we see 600 to 700 cases of lost brood every year.”