Australian lifesavers: rescues increase in sea and surf

In the nine days from December 25 to the New Year public holidays, 1,291 people have been rescued from New South Wales beaches alone – predominantly in and near Sydney beaches. That’s an average of 143 rescues a day. In total, 66 have required hospital treatment.

The statistics are double the number of people rescued over the same period of time last year. Last year in the same region of New South Wales (on the eastern coast of Australia), 649 swimmers were rescued from the ocean.

This year, lifesavers, in addition to the almost 1,300 rescues, made almost 30,000 preventative actions. Warnings and preventative actions were provided to 28,784 beach visitors, urging them to swim between the flags and ordering them off unpatrolled and unsafe areas of the coast, or preventing intoxicated individuals from entering the water.

The festive season, public holidays, and hot temperatures have resulted in many people visiting the beaches of Australia. Unfortunately, many swimmers are not swimming in between the iconic red and yellow flags – where surf lifesavers patrol the area to keep swimmers safe from hazards. People unfamiliar with the surf conditions, such as tourists, continue to have trouble negotiating the waves and ocean tides. The most dangerous condition is the rip. Many people cannot identify a rip because the ocean looks calm. However, a rip is a current of water that drags a person away from the coast into deeper water. Ocean water between the flags is “safe water” – patrolled by lifesavers and rip-free.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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