Usla has been an organization of lifeguards, for lifeguards. The work of the organization has been accomplished by dedicated members volunteering their time to improve upon their profession and the safety of the public.

Miami Beach was incorporated as a town on March 26 th of 1915, later becoming a city in 1917. The City is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which separates the Beach from the mainland city of Miami.
Miami Beach Patrol was formed in 1926 with initially about 30 lifeguards. The main Beach Patrol Headquarters located at 1001 Ocean Drive was designed by Robert Taylor in 1934. It is now included in the historic Art Deco district and has since been restored and renovated.

Lifeguards were made up of an all male crew, until 1979 when the first female was hired as a lifeguard. The first two female full-time lifeguards were hired in the early 80s.

Miami Beach Patrol was originally part of the Police Department giving it the name of “Miami Beach Patrol”; until it passed over to become it’s own department. In the Early 90s the department transitioned again, this time to the Parks and Recreation Department for a brief period of time.

In 2004 the department once again transitioned, this time to become a division of the Fire Department. The Miami Beach Patrol then became Miami Beach Ocean Rescue. The current department has 38 lifeguard towers that guard a stretch of 8 miles of beach. There are 4 separate headquarters that house 4×4 trucks, all terrain vehicles, 4 personal watercrafts and one Boston Whaler Rescue vessel that is kept at Miami Beach Marina. All personnel are in contact with each other by radio transmitters that can contact the Police and Fire Departments.

Currently Miami Beach Ocean Rescue has 145 lifeguards on staff. This includes part-time Lifeguard 1s, full-time Lifeguard 2 Supervisors, Lifeguard Lieutenants, 2 Operation Supervisors and a division Chief, 12 of which are female. Miami Beach Ocean Rescue operates every day of the year for 10 hours a day.

Lifeguards patrolled the beaches and sat in stands until lifeguard towers were fully incorporated in 1992.

After Hurricane Andrew destroyed the make shift chair/ boxes that were used; the City of Miami Beach held a contest for artists to design lifeguard towers. These towers… a few of which were designed by William Lane, sat on the beach as pieces of art heavily based on the Art Deco Era.

Many of these were destroyed in Hurricane Wilma in 2006. The city’s Property Department then built new towers that were designed in part by the department’s Operation Supervisor Hank Oppenbourne. These towers were a standard shape but painted in bright Art Deco colors. In 2015 the City brought back the designs of William Lane to design 6 different Art Deco styles (2 of which mimic his earlier designs). These are the colorful unique towers that lifeguards now sit in every day.