should lifesavers wear life jackets?

[netmaker]

ok, maybe this weather is sending me a bit stir crazy but anyway...
i caught the end of bondi rescue the other day and as i'm watching it i started thinking about safety issues.

1. watching that program my uneducated guess is that probably more than 50% of all drownings occur within 50m of the shore.

2. lifesavers themselves have no failsafes in the event they find themselves in trouble. being knocked out by a panicking victim would see them worse off than the victim they are trying to save.

3. why aren't they wearing self-inflating pfd's that would take little off their swimming performance and may save their lives? obviously not the automatic ones as they are immersed in the course of their work, but manual would still allow someone else to pull the string if the lifesaver becomes unconscious.

4. why aren't there a dozen of those things on every one of those rescue boards to throw out to people when there are plenty caught in a rip?

5. jetskis, canoes, kayaks, windsurfers all have legal pfd obligations, but not lifesavers on rescue boards. should there be workplace health & safety issues here too?

6. why does my kids boogie board come with warnings that it is not a lifesaving device and yet lifesavers use boogie boards as lifesaving devices?

7. is it because i need to become qualified to use a boogie board as a lifesaving device or simply that my daughters boogie board is crap?

[Feral]

I think they wear life jackets here when in their rubber duckies, (leastwise when I have seen them they have them on) are they exempt down there?

[Homer_Jay]

As if the nanny state isn't bad enough already. Don't give anymore ideas mate!

Lifesavers have been doing what they do for as long as I can remember, but I do not remember ANY lifesaver drowned because of not wearing a life jacket. Not saying there has never been an issue, but nothing i can remember.

Mate, you need to go fishing.

[Horse]

Dave, chuck a vest on and go for a swim. Its amazing how hard it is to swim wearing clothing and a vest is much the same. Our Surf lifesaving association is regarded as one of the best in the world. They are always looking for better ways to do things but on a board or swim I think a pair of speedos comes out on top

[Mike Delisser]

Lifesavers don't wear them when on patrol because they've been trialed and found to be a hinderence in the majority of rescue situations, even the inflatable one's. I was a member of Met Caloundra for 10 years and I've never heard of an instance in Qld where a patroling lifesaver drowned. Surf competion though is a different thing and in very rough conditions they have been worn in a couple of events like skies and surf boats (which arn't normaly used for rescues).

Also I'm not aware of lifesavers using "boogie boards" for rescues, you don't mean the patient sled that gets dragged behind the rescue jet ski do you?
Perhaps you mean a thing called a rescue tube that a lifesaver puts over his shoulder and drags behind when they swim out to make a rescue. They replaced the old belt and line. It's made of foam and drags behind on a long rope like a leg rope so you can still dive to the bottom and dig into the sand to avoid a big wave. When you get to the patient you fasten the tube around them like a life bouy and tow them back to shore, or just float around on the foam tube and wait for the duckie. There are always a few of these rescue tubes possitioned in the flagged area, usually hung on the same stands that hold the boards.
Cheers

rescue tube and a rescue sled
rescue-tube-rescue.jpg XSLEDHONDAsmmm.jpg

[Mike Delisser]

2. lifesavers themselves have no failsafes in the event they find themselves in trouble. being knocked out by a panicking victim would see them worse off than the victim they are trying to save.

The lifesavers failsafe is their training, experience, and fitness which is tested with a proficiency exam at the start of each summer. Your trained to always keep the rescue tube or rescue board between you and a panicking patient, they'll grab the tube and calm down when they realise they can now float. You also keep your feet in a position to kick away the patient if there's a problem.
The lifesaver will never be on patrol by themselves either and I think you'll find there only ever been one drowning ever between the flags. That's not bad when you consider how many people hit the surf every summer, they must be doing something right.

It's also worth noting Bondi Rescue is a tv show and you're watching contracted council life guards and not volunteer Lifesavers.
Cheers

[netmaker]

after reading the paper yesterday maybe they should be mandatory for swimmers? 1 man drowned friday on the coast and 3 men drowned saturday in 3 different situations on victorian beaches. seems strange that boaties have all these pfd regulations (not that i wouldn't carry them) when most drownings seem to occur at the beach. judging by the amount of asian tourists who get into trouble, they should be standard issue before they leave the airport!

[netmaker]

I think they wear life jackets here when in their rubber duckies, (leastwise when I have seen them they have them on) are they exempt down there?

i don't think they are exempt. i was referring to their long boards rather than duckies.

[netmaker]

Dave, chuck a vest on and go for a swim. Its amazing how hard it is to swim wearing clothing and a vest is much the same. Our Surf lifesaving association is regarded as one of the best in the world. They are always looking for better ways to do things but on a board or swim I think a pair of speedos comes out on top

thinking more along the lines of the waist band type rather than a vest or a towable package such as mike has shown.

[netmaker]

It's also worth noting Bondi Rescue is a tv show and you're watching contracted council life guards and not volunteer Lifesavers.

all the more reason i wonder about wh&s.

and in my own defence i did say i am going a little stir crazy...

[Horse]

One of the options they have been looking at is swimwear with inbuilt boyancy so that the person floats rather than sinks if knocked out. They are pretty hot for QLD though

[Camhawk88]

How do you inflate a life jacket when knocked out? If there was someone there to pull a sting presumably they are on the spot anyway so either they are the one's being rescued so likely in a state of panic and wont go looking for a string or it is a fellow life saver who could pull them in. A waist band inflatable is no good for an unconscious person as it wont keep their head above water.

No keep all this legislative BS out of it and let them do what they have been doing for over 100 years with no deaths (from what I can tell).

[cormorant]

One of the options they have been looking at is swimwear with inbuilt boyancy so that the person floats rather than sinks if knocked out. They are pretty hot for QLD though

Pamela Anderson had the right idea. She would never drown

All SLC should have the option to have breast and butt implants for the mambers. Membership would go up.

[Feral]

How do you inflate a life jacket when knocked out? If there was someone there to pull a sting presumably they are on the spot anyway so either they are the one's being rescued so likely in a state of panic and wont go looking for a string or it is a fellow life saver who could pull them in. A waist band inflatable is no good for an unconscious person as it wont keep their head above water.

No keep all this legislative BS out of it and let them do what they have been doing for over 100 years with no deaths (from what I can tell).

Lifesavers have suffered quite a few deaths while on patrol, the old life line was natorious for getting covered in weed and taking them down in difficult rescues.

[WalrusLike]

Lets remember that these blokes and ladies are very dedicated and at least as smart as us.

If they do, or do not, do something there is probably a very good reason.

Good questions Nettie and the answers from the blokes that know were very interesting.

I also would add my vote to No More Bloody Regulations.... Let common sense and on the spot decisions by the people on the job matter most.


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