RNLI lifeguards began providing safety patrols on both Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren beaches on Saturday 23 May. RNLI lifeguard teams will patrol each beach from 10am to 6pm during the Whitsun school holiday (25 May to 30 May) and on weekends until the peak summer season which runs from 4 July to 6 September when they will provide a service seven days a week.

RNLI trained lifeguards are highly trained professional lifesavers. Their role is to save lives on UK beaches not only through rescues but also through educating beach users in the safest way to enjoy the beach in order to prevent incidents from occurring. At the start of the day lifeguards place the red and yellow flags to mark out the safest bathing area and place warning signs in appropriate positions on the beach so that the risk of the public getting into difficulties in the sea is minimised.

95 per cent of their work is preventative, this includes advise on potential hazards such as tidal cut off points, and using inflatable toys, to moving the bathing flags as conditions change, as well as monitoring people bathing or surfing in the sea. However, should anyone be unfortunate to experience difficulties the lifeguards will be ready to carry out rescue and appropriate first aid.

RNLI lifeguard supervisor Rory Smith for Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren beaches says;

'We've had pretty busy first weekend, with the sunshine making a welcome appearance. There were over 2,000 people on Dawlish Warren and about 1,500 on Teignmouth. The lifeguards dealt with a number of minor first aids and missing children, one of which was missing for 45 minutes.  However they were mainly busy issuing safety advise to beach users, and making sure anyone bathing was between the red and yellow flags so that they enjoyed their beach visit in safety.' 

In 2008, RNLI lifeguards in the south west, responded to 8,423 incidents on the beach, aiding 9,801 people and saving 39 lives.