As we come to the end of January and the beaches quieting down, a number of beaches are starting to wind up patrols on weekdays over the coming weeks. When visiting the beach members of the public should look on SafeSwim ahead of their visit, avoid calm patches in the surf, never swim or surf alone and if they see someone in trouble, call 111 and ask Police for the lifeguards.

Summary - Saturday 30 January

A quieter start to the long weekend. Mangawhai Heads had one major first aid, a member of the public was dumped by a wave. Sunset responded to an afterhours medical, a member of the public hit their head on rocks in the water and was treated for a head injury. Muriwai had a rescue on the RWC of a boogie boarder outside of the flags. Waipu had a land-based search for a missing child which was quickly resolved. Raglan performed six after patrol rescues, and stayed open for an extra hour and a half.

Statistics – 30 January

Summary - Sunday 31 January

A busy day on the beaches for some of our clubs today with a total of 445 Preventative Actions performed involving 2518 people.

Muriwai performed one rescue, seven assists, three in water searches and two minor first aids. The rescue, one assist and all three searches were for surfers getting into difficulty off Maori Bay. All were returned to shore without needing further treatment. The six remaining assists were on swimmers pulled out of the flags by rips; all were returned to shore by lifeguards with tubes. The Muriwai guards also performed a massive 200 preventatives on 500 members of the public mainly keeping swimmers in between the flags.

Raglan had big crowds with a peak headcount of 900 leading to 45 preventatives involving 635 individuals. A member of the public hit in the chest by a surf board, was treated by ambulance but did not require transport.

The other rescue was a member of the public pulled back to shore after becoming stuck beyond their depth at Waipu Cove.

There were a total of 11 minor First Aids which were for minor cuts or insect stings.

Statistics – 31 January

Summary – Monday 1 February

This morning started off with a Medical at Bethells. A member of the public was reported collapsing walking the giant dunes. Ambulance and Westpac responded, along with Bethells Lifeguards. The patient was found and taken back to the Surf Club conscious and breathing. Westpac landed and Ambulance was waiting in the car park. Ambulance assessed the condition and took the patient to Waitakere Hospital for further treatment.

There was one major first-aid at Raglan later in the morning after a member of the public received a cut to the head after being hit by a surfboard fin. With no signs of concussion lifeguards treated the cut. Waipu and Muriwai also had swimmers hit in the head with surfboards. Procedure was the same for all and all patients were okay.

Mangawhai rescued two people swept away by a current on boards and assisted seven more out of a rip in the morning. Karekare rescued one person in a current and assisted ten. Bethells performed one tube rescue on a member of the public. Piha performed three tube resuces and two IRB rescues for members of the public out of their depth and requiring assistance. Piha also conducted two searches, one for a fisherman that turned out to be just rubbish on the rocks he had left behind and one was for a child who was found within five minutes. Muriwai also had an assist for a member of the public that fell in a hole.

Statistics – 1 February

Statistics for weekend 30 January – 1 February

© Scoop Media