Award tops busy surf lifesaving year

Surf Lifesaver Lindsay Hill

A national award for a rescue of a surfer at Ocean Beach was one of the highlights of the Northland surf lifesaving season, in which overall rescue numbers for the Northern Region were up 37 per cent.

The official surf lifesaving season ended at Easter and finalised statistics now show rescue numbers in the Northern Region increased from 453 this season in comparison to 330 last season.

Whangarei Heads Surf Lifesaving Club president Lindsay Hill said his patrols had a busy season because of the great weather, and the number of rescues had increased.

A highlight was earning the Rescue of the Month Award in February, for the Northern Region and nationally, when a surfer got into trouble after losing his board.

Surf lifeguards were approached by some children on February 14 who had found a surfboard washed in through the northern gut of Ocean Beach.

Due to the large swell, the surfer was hard to spot and he was making no headway against the strong current.

Four surf lifeguards entered the water, two swimmers with rescue tubes and two in an inflatable rescue boat (IRB). The swimmers reached the surfer first and brought him out to sea into calmer water, before he was picked up by the IRB.

The club received a $500 fuel voucher from BP for their IRB.

Another key feature of their season has been a strengthened relationship with the Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST), Mr Hill said.

Three NEST paramedics became fully qualified lifeguards this season, and crews continue to do exercises like winch training at Ocean Beach.

"It's good to have a better working relationship with them," Mr Hill said.

"If they're ever called out to a rescue job they can be more confident in their abilities in the water."

There were eight drownings at beaches nationwide in January, including three in Northland.

Surf lifeguards have patrolled around 80 beaches since Labour Weekend 2014, rescuing 1310 people, which is up on last year's total of 1034.

Lifeguards have also conducted 2329 first aid treatments, an increase of 35 per cent on last year's total of 1724. The number of searches undertaken also increased significantly from 265 last season to 342 this season.