Beach would have claimed two lives without brave beachgoers - lifeguard

Two people would have drowned at Waimarama beach yesterday, if not for the help of beachgoers, a senior surf lifesaver has said.

A rahui is in place at Waimarama beach following the drowning of a man yesterday.

Conditions where he and two other people got into trouble at the popular swimming spot last evening have been described as rough with "flash rips", which had caught people out throughout the day.

Emergency services were called to the beach at about 7pm after three people - poor swimmers, who were believed to be foreigners - got into difficulty in the water north of the Waimarama Surf Life Saving Club.

Lifeguards and members of the public assisted with the rescue.

A police spokesperson said one of the people died after being recovered from the water. CPR was performed on the deceased man for more than 20 minutes.

Of the three people who got into difficulty in the waters last night, two were transported to Hawke's Bay Hospital in a moderate condition. A woman in her 20s remains in a serious condition in the intensive care unit at Hawke's Bay Hospital.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand Hawke's Bay callout squad co-ordinator Phil Harman said the man and woman who were in serious trouble were relatives, but he could not confirm they were married.

The three had been swimming about 100m to 200m north of the patrols, in an area known to be unsafe. There was a sandbar and channel in the area and at certain times of the tide flash rips could occur - as suspected to have done yesterday.

Mr Harman said he understood the group had been waist deep in water when they were pulled out into the channel.

One man had become seperated from the pair, who were taken further out to sea. The male was able to raise his hand and call out for help, with the people in the house next door to the lifesaving club rushing out to assist.

Members of the public were first on the scene, and the first to swim out to the struggling pair.

Without their assistance, "there would definitely be one further fatality", Mr Harman said.

Back on duty today, Waimarama surf lifesavers have put up a sign alerting people to a rahui placed on a section of the beach just north of the lifesaving club.

A club member who did not want to be named told Hawke's Bay Today people are being asked not to swim in this part of the beach for the next two to three days.

Although there were a number of people at the beach this morning, no one was swimming.

Sea conditions were fairly normal today he said, and the safe swimming flags were being set up just south of the club.

Yesterday senior surf life saver Phil Harmon said there had been two rescues and 36 assists on the beach that day and described the conditions as rough, although there was not a big sea.

A rahui was placed on the section of beach. Hastings District councillor Bayden Barber said a contingent of Nga Hapu o Waimarama met with local lifeguards last night to offer support and placed a rahui on the section of beach where the incident occurred for the next two days.

"We ask that people refrain from swimming in this area while this is in place. The Waimarama Surf Club will mark out where the rahui is located."

Barber said the hapu were saddened by the loss of life on their beach last night and extended their condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.

Coming as the second drowning in a week, today swimmers were urged to take more caution to ensure no more tragedies occur at Hawke's Bay waterways.

"Any piece of water has the potential to be unsafe," Jonathon Webber of Drowning Prevention Auckland, a Water Safety New Zealand partner organisation, said.

"We just have to be even more aware in open water settings because we have rips, currents, and [drop-offs] that people might not be able to identify."

The senior lifeguard said when people set out to go for a nice day at the beach, they needed to ensure they were ready should disaster strike. This included going to a patrolled waterway, checking the conditions before entering, having cell phones on hand, and keeping an eye on people in the water.

They also needed to be able to recognise if someone was in distress:

"When people get into trouble they don't look like they do in movies. They're not yelling out...they don't have the ability to yell for help, their body is concentrating more on trying to breathe."

People in such situations would typically face the shore and look distressed. If a beach goer called out to see if they were ok, would not be able to respond. People with long hair would not be bothering to push this out of their face.

Mr Webber said the first thing to do was provide a floatation device to the person - "whether its a chilly bin, or a boogie board" - as this interrupted the drowning process, and gave rescuers time to plan, and call emergency services.

Rescuers should assess risks, and only enter the water if they had some form of floatation to ensure they too did not get into trouble.

Detective Mike Signal said the group were about chest-deep in the water when a male and a female started to be swept out to sea; the third person unable to assist.

Nearby residents saw the group in difficulty, raised the alarm, and entered the water to help with a surfboard from the nearby surf club, he said.

A number of local Waimarama Surf Club volunteers responded, along with the local volunteer fire crew, and a small group of surf club members went into the water to assist.

The male was not breathing and CPR was commenced on-shore by surf lifesavers.

The female was conscious but also in difficulty and the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter and two ambulances were sent to the scene.

The male was pronounced dead at the scene a short while later, and the female was flown to hospital.

A second male, a member of the public who'd gone in to help, was also treated by ambulance staff.

Detective Signal said police wished to acknowledge the quick actions by the members of public who went into the water to assist initially and raise the alarm.

Without this police believed that there would have been more deaths, he said.

"Police also wish to thank the members of the Waimarama Surf club who were also involved in this rescue.

"For some club members, it is the second fatal drowning they have assisted with in the past week."

The matter will be referred to the Coroner.

Waimarama Surf Life Saving Club chairman Tony Pattison said following this incident and another drowning at Haumoana last week, the important message of water safety needed to be reiterated.

"We have to make sure people stay safe."

Anyone swimming in open water beaches like Waimarama should assess conditions and if they are poor swimmers enter the water between the flags only while a patrol is on watch, Mr Pattison said.

The drowning happened about an hour after the surf patrols had finished for the day. They had stayed longer than the usual 5pm because of Waimarama Beach Day.

Although water conditions may look fine, that is not necessarily the case as proved evident yesterday, he said.

On Sunday lifeguards had to rescue two other people - one person who got in trouble in the same place as the drowning and a young boy who needed help off some rocks at the south end of the beach.

They also had to assist 36 members of the public throughout the day.

While this was a high number for the club it was not unusual as during summer the beach could get very busy with hundreds of people in the water, he said.

"The public were amazing throughout the day, listened to lifeguards and moved when they needed to."

The lifeguards involved in the rescue were shaken but were mature for their age, had good training and worked with Victim Support in situations like this, Mr Pattison said.

A Waimarama resident said he had heard that three people who could not swim got stuck in surf with one person raising the alarm by waving his hands in the air.

One of the group died and another had inhaled a lot of water and had to be taken to hospital.

"It's horrible, really awful especially for the lifeguards."

Five Hawke's Bay beaches are patrolled seven days a week by lifeguards during summer -
these were Waipatiki, Ocean, Waimarama, West Shore and Pacific beaches.

WaterSafe New Zealand recommend doing the '4Rs' if someone is in trouble in the water

Recognise
Notice someone in trouble.
Check for danger.
Act quickly.

Respond
Provide floatation.
Send for help (Call 111 – Police)
Reassess safety of people and scene.

Rescue
Think safe
Rescue from land or craft is safest.
Rescue in water – non-contact is safest.
Take flotation if entering the water.

Revive
Provide care.
If person is not breathing normally, start CPR.
If breathing, put in recovery position.
Stay with person until help arrives.