Waitangi Day was as a busy day for Northern Region lifeguards with a number of incidents responded to. There were a total of 16 rescues* across the region with five rescues at Pakiri Beach, 10 rescues at Kariaotahi and one rescue at Karekare beach. Kariaotahi beach had a total of 16 assists***. Duty Officer Ben Julian is available to speak on any of these stats and incidents below. Please get in touch if you’re interested.

Waitangi Day Stats: 6 February 2019

No. of people rescued 16
No. of people assisted 29
No. of major 1st aids 4
No. of minor 1st aids 14
No. of searches 3
No. of PA's 1450
No. of Public Involved 3121
Peak headcount 11660
Total hours worked 1099.5

Key:
*Rescue: When lifeguards save someone from drowning.
**PA: Preventative Actions e.g. lifeguards giving people safety instructions e.g. advising to swim between the flags/advising to move away from a rip etc.
***Assists: Early intervention by lifeguards to prevent member of public from getting into major difficulty.


Incident Summary

Pakiri Incident 12.10pm

A male called Coastguard requesting a tow back to Omaha as his Jetski broke down. The nearest Coastguard asset was in Whangarei about 2 hours away. The jetski operator contacted coastguard again concerned about how close he was drifting to rocks. Coastguard requested that SLSNR provide support to remove the jetski and danger. An IRB was sent out from Pakiri and moved the Jetski to a safe location before the Coastguard unit arrived to perform the tow.

Matheson Bay Beach Incident 1.57pm

SurfCom were alerted by St. Johns to a “critical medical event” involving a 35yo female. SurfCom asked Omaha lifeguards to deploy an IRB with full medical equipment on board, on arrival they were met by Fire and Emergency NZ who provided primary care while Lifeguards prepared the area for the arrival of Westpac. Westpac transported the patient to hospital.

Anawhata Incident 4.42pm

Police advised SurfCom of a male surfer pulled from the water at Anawhata Beach. Police requested first aid support from lifeguards. SurfCom Deployed Support 1 (The west coast jetski) and an IRB from United North Piha. Lifeguards provided first aid and helped to extract surfer from the beach to an ambulance.

Hamilton Gap Incident 5.07pm

SurfCom was alerted by St. John to three people caught in a rip at Hamilton’s Gap. Surfcom dispatched an IRB from Karitotahi to begin a search of the area. A Westpac Rescue Helicopter arrived on and retrieved one person from the water and confirmed the safety of the other two. Surf IRB was stood down.

Other jobs:

• 55yo male at United North Piha was treated for a compression injury and then transported to hospital by ambulance.
• 17yo male pulled from the surf at Karitotahi beach. Patient had swallowed a lot of water so was transported to hospital by ambulance.
• Lady in her mid-20s with a history of heart disease collapsed while swimming in between the flags. Patient was taken to first aid room and monitored by Lifeguards before being transported to hospital by ambulance.

After hours calls:

• 2 people rescued from a Rip at Piha beach. Both needed medical attention and were transported to hospital by ambulance.
• 2 people swimming 500m out to sea at Karekare beach and were rescued. Both left the beach in a stable condition.

ends

© Scoop Media