Lifeguards kept busy over peak season

It was another busy summer for local lifeguards, with an increase of visitors to Eurobodalla’s beaches.

Eurobodalla Shire Council contracts Lifeguarding Services Australia (LSA) to patrol eight local beaches during summer the school holiday period.

LSA chief executive officer Stan Wall said 140,353 people visited the eight beaches over the season, an increase of 17,454 on last year.

“Once again Lifeguarding Services Australia is proud to report that zero lives were lost at the eight patrolled beaches,” he said.

“Lifeguards performed over 5,000 preventative actions and 45 rescues. These lives have been saved by the direct actions of our lifeguards.

“We did experience a massive increase in the number of rescues, this can be attributed to an increase in north-east winds, which brought significant amounts of swell to Dalmeny Beach, which recorded the highest rescue rate.

“On Christmas Day alone lifeguards performed eight rescues back-to-back along the Dalmeny Beach rock shelf.”

Other incidents included the successful rescue of two people in distress in the Tuross River mouth, a land search at Surf Beach for a missing four-year-old who was found safe and well, and an overturned vessel off Broulee Island in which all people were accounted for.

The service responded to four joint emergency callouts and a number of boating incidents. Lifeguards also participated in a range of policing actions with Roads and Maritime Service inspectors and local police.