Mass rescues and major operations: Lifesavers prevent devastation at Illawarra beaches over busy long weekend

Surf Life Savers faced mass rescues, more than 100 first aid call-outs and a distressing false alarm as thousands of beachgoers flocked to our coastline over the long weekend.

Twenty-five rescues were conducted by volunteer lifesavers on Sunday (26 January) and another 39 on Monday as warm conditions and the public holiday saw Illawarra beaches experience an influx of visitors and locals.

“We gear up for it,” Surf Life Saving Illawarra’s Anthony Turner said. “We put additional lifesavers on and our support operations on Jet Skis.

“We were lucky enough on Sunday and Monday council put additional lifeguards on to assist Lifesaving as well, so we really teamed up and we really had a lot of coverage at unpatrolled locations too where we find we do have issues throughout these peak times, so overall it was a good result by lifesavers and lifeguards.”

Fast acting lifesavers prevented disaster during a number of mass rescues in the northern suburbs, including at Austinmer Beach which saw 14 rescues.

“That flash rip occurred just outside of the flagged area where people were taken out to sea fairly quickly and lifesavers responded quickly and pulled all seven of them back in fairly quickly back to shore.

“If you’re at an unpatrolled location, it does take emergency services, lifesavers and lifeguards time to get to that location.”

Lifesavers carried out hundreds of preventative actions, warning swimmers about the dangers outside the flags.

An incident on Saturday involving two women – who required paramedics and oxygen – and young children at the unpatrolled end of Thirroul Beach further reinforced the warning about staying within the designated area.

“If you’re not a strong swimmer it can have tragic consequences where we’ve seen other people, family members go in after children or loved ones and they’ve become a victim and drowned themselves so it really highlights the importance of swimming between the red and yellow flags,” Anthony said.

“We know it might be frustrating where you might have to park a kilometre away from the patrolled area but we just ask that you make a conscious effort so that lifesavers and lifeguards are monitoring the situation.”

Other incidents included the rescue of a rock fisherman who was without a life jacket and was washed into the water at Port Kembla, a boat drifting at Windang, and a major operation which unfolded at Bulli on Monday afternoon where civilians notified authorities of a potential drowning.

“They alerted that someone could’ve possibly gone under; that involved a major search with four IRB (inflatable rescue boats), three Jet Skis, the Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter being deployed to that location,” Anthony said. “Duty officers, lifesavers, lifeguards and emergency services searched for about an hour and a half until we realised that no one was reported missing and no one was found in the water.

“We do take all these incidents seriously until we prove that it’s a false alarm.”

Rescues were not the only tasks keeping lifesavers busy, with 52 first aid cases being treated on Sunday and another 51 on Monday, including a suspected spinal injury.

“That is a lot of first aid for volunteer lifesavers to handle and some of them are quite major,” Anthony said.

“The marine stings – there were dozens of them too. They took time where people had to go have warm to hot showers to neutralise the toxins and just monitor them who are in a bit of distress.”

Further south, Kiama Surf Life Saving Club performed a season high of 21 rescues at Surf Beach, with more than 150 in the water at the peak of the day.

The club posted on social media that 86 per cent of those rescues were between noon and 2 pm and “while the surf wasn’t huge, it was deceptively powerful, with flash rips catching swimmers off guard.

“It’s a reminder of how easy it is to underestimate the strength of the ocean and why understanding water safety is so important.”

They added that while all rescues had a positive outcome, “unfortunately, some patients needed to be rescued more than once even after being rescued and educated.”

Despite the challenging numbers and conditions, the long weekend was marked a success for those who dedicated their time right across the region to keep the community safe.

“Overall we did an amazing job looking after everybody and everybody went home safe and had a great time at our local beaches,” Anthony said.

Beachgoers are urged to download Surf Life Saving Australia’s Beachsafe App to better understand the conditions and how they can enjoy the coast safely.