Water safety: New rescue equipment to help stop out-of-hours drownings

Locals enjoying the water at Ocean Beach, Whangārei Heads are, from left, Grace Farrier, Ella Farrier, Elsa Buckley, Faith Allen, Tommy Earl and Reon Morrison. They agree public rescue equipment should be available when lifeguards are not there. Photo / Denise Piper

Public rescue equipment will be installed at every Surf Life Saving Club in the country, in a move which recognises that people swim, and may need help, outside of the times lifeguards are available.

The move has been prompted by Northlander Pat Millar, who started Operation Flotation after her cousin Wairongoa ‘Magoo’ Renata drowned at Cable Bay in 2018 helping to rescue his children.

Millar heard that the advice for rescuers is to use a flotation device and she started a movement to get them installed on beaches.

She inspired Surf Life Saving to look into public rescue equipment and it has now developed national standards for buoys, life rings and signs, said head of coastal safety and research Adam Wooler.

“She started something and gave us a kick in the bum and told us to help,” he said.

The public rescue buoys have bright colours and can be strapped over the rescuer’s shoulder as they swim out to help.

Surf Life Saving has now organised an Auckland company to make the buoys and will start by installing them at each of its 74 clubrooms around the country, Wooler said.

This is part of Surf Life Saving’s vision to ensure no one drowns at any New Zealand beach, and recognises that while 60 per cent of Kiwi swimmers take a dip during patrol hours most of the time, some 1.3 million people do not.

While the message is still for swimmers to swim between the flags, that cannot be the only safety message from Surf Life Saving, Wooler said.

The organisation also found that of the 15 people who drowned trying to rescue someone else in the last 10 years, not one had any flotation.

“The evidence suggests that they wouldn’t have drowned if they had something to hold onto.

“Public rescue equipment does two things - it enables somebody to save someone else’s life and it can also save them.”

A trial rescue buoy has been installed at Ocean Beach; now rescue equipment will be installed at every Surf Life Saving club to help people successfully undertake rescues. Photo / Denise Piper

The move to install more public rescue equipment is welcomed by Whangārei locals, who say they like to swim throughout the year.

At Ocean Beach, a trial rescue buoy has already been installed.

When the Northern Advocate visited Ocean Beach on a busy Sunday afternoon, most beachgoers said they swim between the flags when lifeguards are present but they don’t let a lack of lifeguards from stopping them going for a dip.

Elsa Buckley said she liked to go for a swim in winter, or at least when the beach isn’t as busy as the summer peak.

She had learnt how to identify where the rips are on the beach, including watching surfers for clues, as they usually use the rips to get out the back.

Her friend Grace Farrier also said she would swim at Ocean Beach without lifeguards.

“Usually everyone looks after each other if there’s no lifeguards.”

Other dangerous beaches to get rescue equipment

Having public rescue equipment on every beach where it is needed would be the ultimate aim, Wooler said.

A number of groups have approached either Operation Flotation or Surf Life Saving to get the equipment installed at their beaches, and it can be rolled out now that the national standards have been developed, he said.

“The problem is that there is no real clarity about who’s responsible for safety on beaches. It requires somebody to put their hands up, like Pat [Millar] did, and say ‘we’ll raise some money and help pay for this’.”

Wooler said Surf Life Saving will also be encouraging regional councils to install safety equipment at the beaches it monitors for swimming water quality, as this already identifies which beaches are popular for swimming.

“The document [national standards] is there but it’s still like pushing a large bolder up a hill for councils to be proactive. It’s too late waiting for someone to die on a beach to be the trigger.”

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.