It’s the time of day that you expect to be packing up and heading home after a day volunteering on the beach, but surprisingly frequently, it’s at that exact time when you are called into action.
If anything, we’d love this story to reinforce the message of only swimming at a patrolled location, between the red and yellow flags this summer, because if no one can see you, no one can save you.
On Sunday 3 November, the afternoon patrol at Palm Beach SLSC on Sydney’s Northern Beaches had folded up the tent and was moving the gear back to the sheds, pleased with their shift. They’d had an influx of bluebottles around lunch time and the ocean had been choppy all day.
At 4.50pm the sun haddipped completely behind the headland of ‘kiddies corner’ but there were still visitors and swimmers spread along the 2.5km stretch.
Photographer Tim Shore (Shore Shot Photos) was at the beach with his daughters and, with his camera on-hand, captured an incredible sequence of shots that portray the real-life drama that was about to unfold in front of him.
“My little girls actually spotted the folks a few minutes earlier and said to me that they looked like they were in trouble,” said Tim.
“I looked over and to be honest, they weren’t, they were still on the sandbar and looked like they could touch the bottom. They were chatting and not panicking or anything.”
Patrol Captain Cass Clinton had the team remain on the beach monitoring the area as the last of the gear was being packed up when one member said, ‘we could be on here!’ As she looked in the direction of the same three people as Tim and his daughters.
“It was a split second that it unfolded,” said Cass.
As a lifesaver, it’s that split second you’re trained for, you make the decision, and everyone just clicks into gear.
The group of three were now off the sandbank and beyond the break – they couldn’t swim.
“They sent out two swimmers with rescue tubes, three boards and the IRB launched shortly after. The team was with the patients within two minutes in very difficult conditions,” said Tim.
Tim provided commentary of the rescue as a member of the public.
“The two rescue tube swimmers managed to punch through the chop and get to the two (patients) which was fortunate because the boat needed to navigate the surf and shore dump to get out. The boat team handled it really calmly. Then it was a case of getting the two women into the boat which was a team effort between the guys in the water and the boat in the very bumpy conditions,” he said.
“The lifesavers stayed in the water with the third person, who was well supported on a board by then, while the boat team whizzed the women back to the beach, and then returned to get the man.
“It’s a really capable patrol and everyone was great – it was really awesome to be honest,” Tim added, proud of the professionalism and competency of the team.
On return to the beach the team attended to the patients. All were offered oxygen, and an ambulance was called for one who was visibly not well after taking on water.
“It was probably one of the bigger rescues I’ve been involved in,” said Cass, who has been patrolling for four years.
“We had two new members who have only been patrolling a couple of times and they were amazing. But we’re also lucky to have so much experience on our patrol from a retired doctor to specialist board paddlers and swimmers. Everyone has their own strength and skills and when it’s required, they all just work together perfectly,” she said.
For Tim it was a great display of rescue response and coordination.
“As an observer, you could see all the training being put into practice. They all knew what to do, were focused on the task and seemed to intuitively know the priorities. Although I’ve no doubt they were all talking to each other to decide who to pick up first. It was very impressive,” he said.
“Well done to the team, there are clearly some very safe hands looking out for us all at Palmy.”
Friday 8 November 2024
