What is Surf Lifesaving?

 

Would you like to give back to the community?

Enjoy being out on the water? or maybe just being on the sand. Need a reason to get out of your normal routine, be part of something that the family can be involved in come and join us at North Palm Beach SLSC. You will find information on how to join here.

Red & Gold Surf Rescue

This is not a shirt. This is a portal through which we pass.
This is not material; this is fabric that binds us together.
This is not a souvenir; this is a reminder of all who have worn it before us.
This is not yellow; this is a beacon for the preservation of life.
This is not a uniform; this is a community unified.
This is not a shirt worn in isolation; this is a shirt worn as one team.
This is success and failure, but selfless in its intent …..
This is EVERYTHING but a ‘shirt’

Interested in becoming a Lifesaver?

You will be trained to be the first responder in any emergency situation on our beach and beyond. This includes rescuing members of the public from drowning or those who are struggling in the surf. You will also be trained to provide first aid and advanced resuscitation to those in need and finally includes general patrolling of the beach to keep our community safe. All whilst gaining a nationally recognised qualification (Certificate II in Public Safety – Aquatic Rescue). The course spans:

  • Safety and Wellbeing - How to keep yourself safe in the challenging situations of Surf Life Saving

  • Surf Awareness and Skills - Recognising beach and surf conditions, with a goal to identify safe areas of the beach

  • The Human Body - General anatomy of the human body

  • Resuscitation - How to correctly perform a full resuscitation scenario

  • Defibrillation and basic oxygen techniques - To be combined with resuscitation when treating a patient in need

  • First Aid - General first aid covering bandaging and treating wounds, treating marine stings/injuries and a range of other conditions

  • Communications - How to effectively communicate with the public and patrol group

  • Radio Operations - How to use a patrol radio effectively

  • Rescue Techniques - Perform patient rescues with a range of equipment including Rescue Boards, Tubes and no-equipment rescues

  • Carries & Supports - For moving an injured patient. This also includes spinal management.

  • Beach Management - How to effectively manage a beach on patrol, in regards to keeping the public safe and working as a team

Patrol Hours

North Palm Beach patrols as per our agreement with SLS NSW.

28/9/19 – 7/10/19                  9 am – 4 pm
12/10/19 – 15/12/19                9 am – 5 pm
21/12/19 – 27/1/20             9 am – 6 pm
1/2/20 – 29/3/20                9 am – 5 pm
4/4/20 – 26/4/20                9 am – 4 pm

North Palm Beach SLSC is patrolled by volunteer lifesavers (in the red and yellow) during the above mentioned times. Each patrol group is rostered on for one Saturday or Sunday roughly once a month. Northern Beaches Council Life guards patrol during the week. For more information please visit their website.

After Hours

Due to the benefit to the community, all volunteer lifesaving services in SNB have emergency response (24/7 callout) capability. This is achieved through a coordinated system of qualified personnel with access to appropriate rescue equipment, responding within specific emergency response plans.

SNB Duty Officers run an after hours/out of season roster to ensure that any request for assistance through 13SURF is immediately answered. Clubs should remain “rescue ready” throughout the off-season and ensure that Emergency Call Out team contacts listed on SurfGuard are current.

For the first time, the State Operations Centre (SOC) will be available 7 days a week to provide SurfCom Support state-wide. This is a great step forward for Surf Life Saving in NSW as now we have SurfCom support for the Australian Lifeguard Service, Council Lifeguard Services, Support Operations, Clubs, Branches and the Surf Emergency Response System. The SOC hours are now 7am to 5pm 7 days a week from the SLSNSW H/Q in Belrose. These hours will remain until daylight savings starts again on 4th October 2015.

Any Clubs performing off-season training or assessments (eg: IRB training or Branch RWC training), it is highly recommended that they sign on and off with SurfCom via channel 3.

Rescue Services - RWC (Rescue Water Craft) Operators

Information regarding RWC operators can be found via the SLS SNB web site.

Rescue Services - Surfcom

SurfCom Warringah is the radio communications coordination centre located at Fisherman’s Beach, Long Reef. Qualified radio operators volunteer their time to operate the base for the benefit of not just the Sydney Northern Beaches branch, but the south coast branches in NSW as well. It also has the capability of providing redundancy for the communications centre at SLSNSW headquarters. This has been tested (out of necessity) on a number of occasions and the radio operators have handled the extra workload with great skill and professionalism.

This vital part of our communication also liaises with external emergency services as required and provides information and guidance to patrols and members as needed. SurfCom also coordinates, monitors and logs beaches for signing on and off, collecting patrol statistics and any other information required for our data base.

Volunteering
SurfCom operators are a range of ages and come from all areas of the community. While operators must be an SLSA member, it is not necessary to be a patrolling lifesaver as full training is provided for our operators to enable them to ably operate the radio equipment and computer programs. Anyone are interested in joining this vital communications Support Service, please contact SLS SNB for further details.

Duty Officers

The role of the Duty Officer is to support Patrol Captains in ensuring the bathing public is exposed to minimal risk at our beaches. They liaise with SurfCom and other services to ensure lifesaving services are deployed in a proactive capacity to at-risk and high-risk locations.

In the event of a major incident they will initiate a response from members if they are not already aware of the situation and coordinate Life Saving Services. These can be either within patrol operational hours or after hour’s events. As part of this coordination they liaise with external emergency services and other stakeholders to ensure the best outcome is achieved. As an integral part of our support services they are also able to organise post incident de-briefing and counseling for members as required.

All Branches are required to have a Duty Officer system in place, and a dedicated Duty Officer on active rostered duty during normal patrolling hours during the lifesaving season. These volunteers are appointed by SNB Branch annually.

Duty Officer Applications
Expressions of Interest are open for new Branch Duty Officers as needed. Interested members should read the attached information on the application process.  Currently there is no planned intake of new Duty Officers for the 2017-18 season, more information can be found via the SLS SNB web site.

Photos thanks to SLSA & Courtney Gold Photography