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bp Rescue of the Month December winners
Thursday, 23 January 2025bp Rescue of the Month December winners
The votes are in and Raglan, Omanu, South Brighton, Palmerston North Surf Lifesaving Clubs have taken out December’s bp Rescue of the Month awards.
Haley Mahoney, bp New Zealand Head of Country said December’s rescues show the wide range of situations surf lifeguards across the country respond to every day whether on patrol or responding to an after-hours call.
“These rescues demonstrate just how fortunate all these people were to have the trained and steady heads of surf lifeguards on hand to help when they got into trouble and needed assistance.”
Northern Region – Raglan SLC
Surf Lifeguards responded extremely quickly to an out-of-hours rescue on the Raglan Bar with the first two patients rescued less than five minutes after lifeguards received information from SurfCom.
Responding surf lifeguards navigated not only challenging conditions on the bar but also debris including fishing line, rope, jerry cans and chilly bins. They made dynamic skill set assessments to ensure a more effective unit. This resulted in a surf lifeguard with paramedical skills was swapped out of the IRB to better use her paramedical skills to treat the patients on shore.
Surf Lifeguards providing care to patients on the beach worked effectively alongside Coastguard and Hato Hone St Johns to ensure the best possible outcome.
All patients, who were suffering from exhaustion, hypothermia and water inhalation, were all treated with expertise and care. Record keeping of the incident was excellent and a great debrief had by all.
The judges said; “This rescue shows the vast and varying nature of the incidents our surf lifeguards are responding to. This was a highly skilled rescue and thanks to the surf lifeguards quick reactions, dynamic risk assessment and impressive rescue skills, they were able to get everyone home safely that evening.”
Eastern Region - Omanu SLC
A patient presented to three off duty surf lifeguards at Omanu SLC with bleeding to the head and an unknown spinal injury. The team took immediate action calling 111 and calmly applying first aid to the patient with advice from paramedics. The team later found out that their action prevented the gentleman from being permanently paralyzed.
While awaiting the ambulance, surf lifeguards contacted the gentleman’s wife and kept her up to date. Scene Management was outstanding due to their calm and reassuring manner. The patient, who had broken his neck in four places, was transported to hospital where he had surgery.
The judges commended the care and skill applied to the patent. “These guards did a remarkable job in their careful care of this severely injured patient. Their advanced first aid care and calm scene management undoubtedly helped minimise the patient’s spinal injury and gave him the best start to recovery that a patient in that situation could ask for.”
Central Region – Palmerston North SLC
Surf Lifeguards at Palmerston North SLC provided critical patient care, comforted family members and worked with other agencies, all while maintaining a safe flagged area on a busy day.
Surf Lifeguards were notified by a member of the public just after midday, that a patient, stung by a bee, was anaphylactic. Two surf lifeguards with advanced surf first aid, immediately responded and administered an EpiPen, as the patient was not in a condition to do themselves. They then delivered lifesaving oxygen while making contact with Surfcom to request an ambulance.
With assistance from Fire Emergency New Zealand, they transported the patient via ATV to the surf club first aid room with a family member. While awaiting the ambulance lifeguards monitored the patient’s vitals which were fluctuating. When the ambulance arrived, a quick clear concise handover was delivered giving ambulance staff vital background and patient information.
Judges were impressed by the actions of lifeguards on the day. “Their actions show the value of the range of skills our guards have. Their actions show the value of the range of skills our guards have, not just on the water but to provide highly skilled first aid to the community too.”
Southern Region – South Brighton Beach Education Team
The South Brighton Beach Education team quickly responded to an incident which unfolded during a beach education session preventing multiple fatalities and giving students and parents first-hand look at the importance of water safety.
Three surf lifeguards entered the water to rescue five teenagers caught in rip leaving one lifeguard to remove children and adults from the water in the beach education area. With the aid of rescue tubes, two surf lifeguards rescued two patients each and one lifeguard rescued the fifth patient.
Equipment was utilised appropriately to achieve a successful result, as well as effective and quick communication between surf lifeguards to respond and save the five teenage swimmers. Once rescued lifeguards checked oxygen saturation and blood pressure levels and immediate first aid was applied until the ambulance arrived.
Not only did the quick action and clear communication save five lives in a hugely complex scenario, it would also have been a water safety lesson that both students and teachers will likely remember.
Judges praised the responsiveness of the surf lifeguards involved. “It’s wonderful to see the versatility of skills in our organisation being put to use. To go from educating a large school group one moment, to saving lives the next is a true endorsement of the ability of these guards. An excellent outcome for the members of the public who were rescued, and that the incident could be used as a real-life teaching moment for the beach ed attendees.”