Lifeguards Aboard CareflighT LIFESAVING
Gold Coast lifeguards get onboard with Careflight
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n a new initiative starting this summer that follows on from a similar initiative with Sunshine Coast lifeguards and the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service, Gold Coast City Council lifeguards will be on board the RACQ CareFlight Rescue chopper to provide their expert skills during water search and rescue operations, water winches and offshore ocean rescues. GCCC Chief Lifeguard Warren Young said the initiative by Mayor Tom Tate and CareFlight for council lifeguards to be trained for specialist work in offshore ocean rescue from the CareFlight helicopter is welcomed by lifeguard staff. “CareFlight has an impeccable safety record and is regarded as the benchmark in medical retrieval in Queensland. The unique water skills possessed by lifeguards will support the flight paramedics in the provision of medical treatment," he said. CareFlight Group Queensland CEO Ashley van de Velde said training lifeguards for challenging water rescues allows flight paramedics to concentrate on providing the highest level of medical treatment possible, “CareFlight is delighted to include the specialist skills of Gold Coast lifeguards, who I consider among the best in the world,” he said.
“CareFlight and the Gold Coast City Council have worked together to reintroduce lifeguards on ocean and water missions with the support of the Queensland Ambulance Service. “This model benefits the patients and provides the best medical care possible.” RACQ CareFlight Rescue’s helicopters are often tasked to critical rescue missions up to 100 nautical miles out to sea.
CAREFLIGHT HAS AN IMPECCABLE SAFETY RECORD AND IS REGARDED AS THE BENCHMARK IN MEDICAL RETRIEVAL IN QLD. Water-winching in these locations is one of the most difficult exercises crews undertake and includes searching for missing fisherman, winching sick people from cruise ships and saving people from stricken vessels. New recruits Scott Wilson, Michael Chan, Luke Ingwersen and Rod Clayfield-Hoskin had to undergo intensive training, including overland winching, helicopter underwater escape exercises and theory. lifeguard magazine 11