Wyatt Werneth To Be Honored With Space Coast Public Service Lifetime Achievement Award
By Space Coast Daily // August 22, 2017
Guinness world record HOLDER
EDITOR’S NOTE: In every community there are great men and women who have, by their strength of will and character, become ingrained in the consciousness of our society. They are doers who have made a stand and a commitment for the common good. They are labeled as public servants, but they are truly our natural leaders whose legacies are the milestones of our progress.
Space Coast Daily is honored to highlight the 2017 Space Coast Public Service Awards honorees, starting with the Lifetime Achievement category.
Below, we present Wyatt Werneth, who has committed his entire life to ocean safety and continues with his life-saving legacy to inspire ocean rescuers everywhere.
The second annual Space Coast Public Service Awards & Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held Saturday, September 23, inside the Maxwell C. King Center For the Performing Arts. Seating is now available so don’t delay in making your reservations.
Call 321-242-2219 or log on to KingCenter.com for tickets.
Has Committed Entire Life to Ocean Safety
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Wyatt Werneth began his career in 1994 after serving an eight year commitment with the U.S. Navy.
While in college, Werneth started his own diving business where he met a volunteer firefighter from the Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department.
He then joined the Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department, and he also tried out for a Brevard County lifeguard position.
It didn’t take long before Werneth was improving his skill set by attending Fire College and EMT school to become a better lifesaver.
Lifeguarding came natural for him, and he excelled in rank very quickly. His first year he became a Lieutenant and the following year a Captain running his own lifeguard team.
In 1996, the Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department requested that the Fire Department manage the lifeguards.
Werneth jumped at the opportunity to go full-time with the Fire Department and by 1997, the Fire Department had successfully formed a lifeguard division of the fire department with Werneth in command.
Before the year ended, Cape Canaveral lifeguards had been certified as an advanced certified life-saving organization. The very first year, the lifeguards proved invaluable by making a rescue, which earned Werneth and the team EMT of the Year.
He implemented many improvements such as the first defibrillator and rescue watercraft at Jetty Park.
Werneth accepted the position as Brevard County Ocean Rescue Chief in 1999, where he established the first Brevard County ocean rescue rookie class to recognize all lifeguards.
In 2004, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and soon after, became a naval officer for the Navy Sea Cadet Corp as a special warfare orientation course instructor.
In 2007, Brevard County experienced 10 drownings in a short period of time. To help raise awareness, he decided he would paddle board up the coast of Florida for 10 days to raise awareness.
The 345 mile trip from the Miami Beach lifeguard station, up the coast to the Jacksonville lifeguard station, set a Guinness world record.
He is currently working with other lifeguards to form a non-profit organization called the Life Rescue Project. Their mission is to implement life safety devices along all beaches in areas where there are no lifeguards.
Werneth has since retired, but remains active in water safety as an active rescuer with the Melbourne Beach and Satellite Beach Volunteer Fire Department’s water rescue teams, as well as being instrumental in discussions of a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Rescue Swimmer team.
He has committed his entire life to ocean safety and continues with his life-saving legacy to inspire ocean rescuers everywhere.
Seating for the 2017 Space Coast Public Service Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, is now available so don’t delay in making your reservations. Call 321-242-2219 or log on to KingCenter.com for tickets.
CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS
