Surf life savers are on high alert.
Coastal drowning tragedies are up by 22% across the state; 44 people have tragically lost their lives along the NSW coast over the 2018-19 period, with three of these drownings coming in the Hunter Region.
The 2019 Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) Coastal Safety Report shows that 86% of victims were male, 59% of the drownings occurred at a beach location, and 7% were attempting to rescue someone else.
Water safety professionals and volunteers are working tirelessly to reduce the drowning toll this year.
Through targeted safety messages and increased surveillance, they hope this number will drop.
“Swim between the flags and don’t go beyond your ability,” Hunter Surf Life Saving President, Henry Scruton, says.
“If you’re in trouble, wave your hand and, as hard as this sounds, if you do get into trouble, don’t panic.”
SLSNSW is launching new equipment to help save lives this summer – drones, jet skis and other support operations vehicles will increase surveillance.
Nearly half of the drownings are occurring away from patrolled areas, and Mr Scruton says they are working hard to try and encourage people to swim at patrolled beaches.
There are services that can aid people who are in remote or unpatrolled locations, but they often may be too late.
He says that, if you do witness someone in trouble, only attempt a rescue if you are a strong and confident swimmer.
“Unfortunately some of our statistics are made up of people who, in all good faith, went to rescue somebody and got into trouble themselves,” Mr Scruton says.
“If you are a good swimmer and you think you can cope with it by all means offer assistance.
“If you are not a good swimmer, it sounds dreadful, but it’s better to have one loss rather than two.”
He says it is best to “notify somebody else, call for assistance, and get help”.
“You can even call 000,” he says.
“We have a 24 hour call out system up and down the coast, so if you ring 000, they are able to get in contact with a surf life saver in most areas and they can come and offer assistance.”
Go to surflifesaving.com.au/ to view the report or to learn more about coastal safety.
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