"Two of them made it in all good, but I was a bit worried because I was all alone. I didn't know how I was going to get all four of them to the beach," she said.
An experienced swimmer, Ms Jefferson swam back to shore to get help and soon returned to her board with her brother and boyfriend who had both just got back to shore from surfing.
Ms Jefferson said her instincts "kicked in" and she soon returned from the shore with her brother and boyfriend; using their surf boards to help get all four back to shore.
The group was in a seemingly-calm spot in the surf, however Ms Jefferson said the weather was "messy" and she could see them being dragged down the beach to where waves were breaking.
"There was a definite break in the swell, they were swimming in a calm patch so there was nothing for them to get knocked back into the shore. They were just being dragged out and out," she said.
Ms Jefferson said one male had taken on a lot of water.
"With the waves breaking on top of him he was swallowing water. After a resuce that water can get caught in the lungs and lead to secondary drowning," she said.
However while the incident prompted cause for concern for the regional lifeguard, Ms Jefferson said she watched as the male who had taken on water went straight back to the group's spot on the beach and "downed" another beer.
Ms Jefferson said it was "sad" to see a group get themselves into a situation like that.
"It's not a good combination of factors. I also think being in New Zealand there needs to be more water safety education. I teach a lot of kids safety in schools and it's cool to inform them," she said.
"On a normal day without rips or currents it would be okay but they didn't see the rip so they got themselves into a situation where they were out of their depth."
While the group's rescue can be attributed to the efforts of Ms Jefferson and her surf party ,fast communication within the beach community meant that an IRB arrived at the scene shortly after she had pulled the individuals back to shore.
"Someone ran to the dairy because the owner's son had an IRB. It arrived just after we had gotten them all in to shore," she said.