LIFESAVING SLSQ Extends Services
Surf Life Saving extends lifeguard services to Southport and Tallebudgera
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urf Life Saving Queensland’s Brisbane Life Saving Service and Australian Lifeguard Service have joined forces with Neptune Royal Life Saving Society Club in providing patrol and rescue services at Tallebudgera Creek for the 2013-14 patrol season.
The rescue services, funded by SLSQ, are part of an initial 12-month trial in partnership with the Queensland Government and Gold Coast City Council, with further discussions at the end of the trial on whether to continue the patrols. The decision will be made based on the statistics and feedback gathered during the trial. SLSQ Chief Operations Manager George Hill said Tallebudgera Creek was a great recreational area for swimming and picnics, but had been identified as a black spot that required extended patrolling.
• ALS lifeguards cover the Tallebudgera Creek mouth, patrolling during the week from 8am to 5pm. • The service started on 23 September 2013 and will run through to 25 April 2014. • BLS will cover patrols on the weekends and public holidays when the Neptune Royal Life Saving Society Club are not patrolling. • Hours can be extended from 7.30am to 6.30pm for the ALS lifeguards during the summer school holiday period from 14 December 2013 to 27 January 2014. 10 lifeguard magazine
“Neptune Royal Life Saving Society Club is looking forward to extending the coverage of this popular swimming and recreational area with Surf Life Saving Queensland’s ALS Lifeguards and Brisbane Life Saving Service,” Mr Newman said. “Increasing the patrol coverage will be an added safety boon for our community and visitors to ARE the area, in and out of the water.”
PEOPLE UNAWARE OF THE DANGERS, PARTICULARLY THE STRONG OUTGOING AND INCOMING TIDAL CURRENT.
“It’s also very popular with families and visitors, but there was one fatality during the 2012/13 patrol season and a number of rescues from Tallebudgera Creek including five near drownings of a family because people are unaware of the dangers, particularly the strong outgoing and incoming tidal current,” Mr Hill said.
How the service operates
Neptune Royal Life Saving Society Club President, Clive Newman said Tallebudgera Creek can change quickly with the change of the tide and people are unaware of the danger unless there are on-duty lifesavers or lifeguards to let them know whether it's safe to go in the water.
From 1999 to 2013, there were a total of four drownings making Tallebudgera Creek one of the top five highest drowning black spots in Queensland and the third highest on the Gold Coast with Surfers Paradise and Kurrawa the top two drowning black spots. State Member for Burleigh Michael Hart MP is in full support of the extended patrols.
“We need to make sure our community and visitors are safe swimming in these popular recreation areas not only on the weekends, but also during the week,” Mr Hart said.