Spoilers ahead for the July 5 episode of LA Fire & Rescue, called "The Real Baywatch."
The unscripted first responder action continued on NBC with the latest episode of LA Fire & Rescue, the latest series from Dick Wolf that follows the stories of heroes in a very different way than Chicago Fire does. The docuseries provides a look into the real-life men and women of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and the latest installment showcased how there's more to saving lives in LA County than fighting fires. Lifeguards swam into the spotlight in "The Real Baywatch," and executive producer Rasha Drachkovitch opened up to CinemaBlend about their heroics and how the show managed to film emergencies way more intense than Baywatch!
The docuseries wasted no time in making it very clear that working as a lifeguard in LA County on the ocean is extremely different than keeping an eye on a swimming pool. The episode revealed that the LACo lifeguards performed 9,292 rescues in 2021 alone. Speaking with CinemaBlend, former Nightwatch and First Responders Live executive producer Rasha Drachkovitch explained that the guards were "one of the areas that we got excited about" because their rescues showed the "diversity and breadth of the LA County Fire Department." The LA Fire & Rescue EP said:
We followed the lifeguards. Think real Baywatch, right? We follow the largest lifeguard department in the world, and just how they navigate the riptides that are so dangerous in Southern California for people, and how they can rescue surfers or beachgoers from drowning is just also really interesting to watch.
When many people think of first responders, they may not automatically think of lifeguards as well as firefighters and paramedics. LA Fire & Rescue proved that what Rasha Drachkovitch described as the "real Baywatch" in the fully unscripted docuseries is a lot more intense and demanding than what Donna D'Errico, Pamela Anderson, and David Hasselhoff got up to on the scripted Baywatch! The executive producer opened up about getting to showcase the lifeguards:
[When] everybody thinks of lifeguards, they think of Baywatch, as I mentioned. You know, the colorful sexiness of that series, but it's a really, really demanding job. You look at [the ocean], sandy beaches and the wonderful waves and California weather, and you're like, 'Oh, this is heaven.' But there is an undercurrent, pun not intended, that is so dangerous. To see the lifeguards – who have to be in incredible shape, because you have crashing waves coming in and you have a person losing strength and starting to go under – for them to be able to swim out under all those kinds of conditions and bring a victim in and save lives, my hat's off to them. I just can't tell you how impressive that was to watch.
The episode revealed that the lifeguards also use tools like underwater cameras and jet skis to make their saves, but they very clearly have to be in prime physical conditions. The pressure was on even more than a normal day at the beach during the Malibu triathlon, which required rescue after rescue after rescue. With the ocean to deal with, the precautions used to keep the filming crew safe in fires didn't apply for the LA Fire & Rescue team. Rasha Drachkovitch explained how the series got the footage in circumstances that were too dangerous to be filmed by camera operators:
With lifeguards, it was too dangerous for us to actually have a camera crew go out into an undercurrent, as you can imagine. We were good up until the shoreline and going in knee-deep to film, but we did have some specialty gear. Think of underwater drones. The terminology escapes me now, but it's pretty cool camera technology that was able to go out with them so you got a chance to see what it's like to be rescuing somebody under incredible conditions without putting our crews at risk. Other than let's say a sunburn, at the end of the day. [laughs]
As a former local swimming pool lifeguard, I can vouch for the fact that a bad case of sunburn was usually the biggest problem that I'd face in a summer! The challenges of filming the LA County lifeguards in the ocean ultimately weren't insurmountable thanks to technology, and I would say that viewers are able to truly appreciate what those first responders are able to do in the water thanks to the footage.
LA Fire & Rescue continues to demonstrate what the executive producer called the "even more powerful" experience of an unscripted look at the heroes of LA County. The show isn't out of episodes just yet, so be sure to tune in to NBC on Wednesday, July 12 at 8 p.m. ET to see what's next. You can also revisit the earlier episodes streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
