A busy day on the beaches today with hot weather and large crowds leading to a large number of incidents, but without major injuries or drownings.

There were several rescues performed by guards. Whangarei had five people swept away in a flash rip who were returned to shore by IRB without further incident. Kariaotahi had two children pulled into a hole outside the flags who were tubed to safety and six further people assisted to safety in similar situations (four in one incident, two in another). Bethells had swimmers struggling on the sandbar with one tube rescue and four children assisted after they drifted away from shore. United North Piha had two body-boarders swept out to sea who were picked up by IRB. The RWC based at Ruakākā (Support 2) performed an assist at Uretiti when a swimmer was struggling to return to shore after going out of their depth. SLSNR's RWC on the North Shore (Support 5) assisted four people off Takapuna, in two separate incidents involving two people on a water craft needing help.

There were a number of major first-aids, including a sprained ankle at Omaha referred to medical and an asthma attack at Ōrewa; an ambulance was not required for these incidents.

There were also minor first-aids across the beaches. Notable were seven people with shell cuts at Ōrewa, 10 people with shell cuts at Omaha, and 12 jellyfish stings at Bethells, while Piha had a cut from a board fin and three jellyfish stings

The only incident today that required Surfcom coordination was a search at Ōrewa when police requested lifeguard assistance with a search for an elderly man with Alzheimer’s who walked away from his carer. Although lifeguards found several eyewitnesses that saw someone matching his description, he was not found. Lifeguards were stood down after searching for 90 mins.

Preventative actions were plentiful but Muriwai was the stand-out with 300 PA's involving 500 people. Raglan also did 150 involving 750 people.

Statistics for Sunday 26 January 2020

No. of people rescued 11
No. of people assisted 15
No. of major 1st aids 3
No. of minor 1st aids 52
No. of searches 3
No. of PA's 614
No. of Public Involved 2722
Peak headcount 11044
Total hours worked 2121
No. MDT Jobs 0

Summary - Saturday 25 January 2020

Lifeguards had a quiet morning yesterday but a busier afternoon.

At United North Piha a 21-year-old woman who broke her leg and was assisted by guards till St John arrived; she was taken to hospital.

Kariaotahi had a member of the public report a hang-glider crash; lifeguards were first responders and helped to stabilise the patient until the Westpac rescue helicopter arrived. At the same time, a motorbike crashed causing its rider to dislocate his shoulder - St John medics were able to relocate the joint on site.

There were two rescues at Muriwai and two assists in the Far North.

Statistics for Saturday 25 January 2020

No. of people rescued 3
No. of people assisted 8
No. of major 1st aids 3
No. of minor 1st aids 29
No. of searches 2
No. of PA's 288
No. of Public Involved 1993
Peak headcount 10346
Total hours worked 1448

A full summary of the long weekend (including Auckland Anniversary Day) will be issued tomorrow evening.

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