UPDATE: Man OK After Fall Near Abalone Cove

A man is reported to be ok after slipping on the rocks and hitting his head near in Rancho Palos Verdes Monday afternoon, prompting initial reports of a search operation.

Capt. Steve Moseley with the L.A. County Fire Department lifeguard division said that although the call was initially reported as a water search operation, lifeguards quickly located the man on land and treated him for his injuries at the scene.

"It was not a search, it turned out... His friends were looking to get some help getting him out of there," said Moseley. "The initial report was that there was a search involved." 

Moseley said that because of the ruggedness of the coastline in Palos Verdes, communication can sometimes turn out to be tricky.

"Even when a person is standing on the beach in plain sight, sometimes it is hard to locate them because of the terrain," he said. "We always err on the side of having additional resources because we do not know how it is going to shape up once we get there."

The U.S. Coast Guard said that they were kept updated on the situation but did not have to deploy any of their resources to the scene.

Editor's Note: Based on comments from L.A. County Fire Department representatives, an earlier version of this article initially reported that lifeguards were conducting search operations in the water and the swimmer had not been found. This turned out to be false. Patch apologizes for any inconvenience.