Saturday 9th January
Saturday was a tale of two coasts with a quiet day on the east but three metre waves on the west coast led to a very
busy day for guards. Most patrols on the West Coast kept their flags up until 6:00pm with Muriwai, Raglan and Bethells
not closing until 6:30pm.
Mangawhai had one major first-aid, and one minor-first aid. Waipu had an assist which required no help from Surfcomm.
Wenderholm had one minor first-aid.
Muriwai topped the number of people assisted with 105 assists involving 346 people. They also performed four minor first
aids.
Piha had a mass incident when a flash rip washed five people out of the flags. Three were able to walk out with
lifeguard assistance, while one needed to be pulled out by tube, and the last was picked up by IRB. None required
further assistance once out of the water. The guards also assisted a swimmer out of the water at the end of the patrol.
Kariaotahi had one major first-aid who was treated in the club first-aid room before being taken to hospital by
ambulance. The lifeguards performed four assists pulling struggling swimmers into shallow water.
Raglan had an extremely busy day with large waves and strong rips. They performed 11 rescues and nine assists, as well
as four minor first-aids. Raglan had a mass rescue involving nine people when a flash rip sucked them out on the low
tide. An IRB and three tube swimmers rescued seven people and assisted two others. Another swimmer was rescued by tube
later in the afternoon. As they were closing patrol they rescued three people, one whom was struggling to breathe and
semi-conscious. Lifeguards treated her until ambulance arrived and took her to hospital.
Saturday’s statistics:No. of people rescued13No. of people assisted14No. of major first aids3No. of minor first aids10No. of searches2No. of preventatives585No. of number involved2443No. of peak head count9537No. of hours worked1479.5Sunday 10th January
Sunday was a fairly busy day throughout the region with high numbers of beach-goers. Ruakaka had a peak head count of
940, and Orewa had a peak of 875.
Raglan had six assists. In the morning four pole-skis were assisted back to shore by IRB after their engines failed.
Later, two boogie boarders drifted out the back of the flags into a rip and were tube-rescued back by two in-water
lifeguards.
Piha had seven assists of people who drifted off the bar at low tide, as a couple of large sets came through and washed
people out. An IRB picked them up and returned them to shore.
Mangawhai had a major first-aid, as a young male had fallen on the rocks and taken on water while unconscious. They
responded with first aid-gear and assisted the rescue helicopter by setting up a landing zone.
Bethells conducted a land-based search for a missing young female walker on the Hillary trail. The informant managed to
contact the woman two hours after they were last seen and lifeguards ensured that the two were successfully united.
Sunday’s statisticsNo. of people rescued0No. of people assisted14No. of major first aids2No. of minor first aids4No. of searches0No. of preventatives292No. of number involved1929No. of peak head count6722No. of hours worked1241.5
The Weekend Statistics are as follows:No. of people rescued13No. of people assisted28No. of major first aids5No. of minor first aids14No. of searches2No. of preventatives877No. of number involved4372No. of peak head count16259No. of hours worked2721