In the case of a recent emergency in Florida, one man’s drone helped save a teenager’s life. “I was sitting there and this girl came running asking if anybody could swim,” Smith told the local news outlet WSVN. Rip currents are often confused with rip tides or undertows, none of which actually pull you downward. NOAA estimates an average of 76 people drowned from rip currents per year off US shores between 2015 and 2024. Rip currents usually aren’t very wide, so it’s often possible to paddle out of its pull this way.