Surf life saving taking care of our needs

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It’s been a busy season for the Port Douglas Surf Life Saving Club and a total of 42 patrolling members accumulated a total of 1,735 patrol hours during the season.

PDSLSC Club President Irene Cats said: “We have four Patrol Groups rotating, which means we usually patrol a full day once every four weeks. We’d love to grow our group of patrolling members so we can ensure everyone only covers half a day, instead of a full day.”

During the 1,735 patrol hours the volunteer life savers performed 1,407 preventative actions, 64 minor first aid, three major first aid and one rescue.

Ms Cats said you never know what’s about to happen when you’re on patrol. We always prepare for the worst, but luckily Four Mile Beach is one of the safest beaches in Australia.

The 42 Patrolling Members watched out over a total of 64,450 beach goers. These stats are collected during the patrols by taking estimates over two-hour time blocks.

“These stats give us a real good insight in the meaningful work we do. Our patrolling members give up a lot of their time to help out, in between busy jobs, businesses, family and other engagements. We all love what we do and feel a real sense of pride in being a volunteer Surf Life Saver.

“To thank our volunteers we like to team up with local businesses to provide vouchers and discounts. A big thank you to Mocka’s Pies, Lighthouse Café, Central Hotel, Ramada Resort, Toast Sandwhich Bar, Salsa, Lure and The Surfy for providing vouchers for our weekly fundraising raffles and upcoming awards dinner.

“We also would like to thank The Mirage Country Club for offering our Patrolling Members free access to their pool and the Port Douglas Gym for offering a discounted membership to our Patrolling Members. None of the life savers are in it for these rewards, but it’s nice to let them know we appreciate their commitment and hard work,” said Ms Cats.

Surf Life Saving is a real family affair with nippers turning into life savers and patrolling with their parents. We also see more and more high school students join as the qualification and patrol hours earns them points for the Queensland Certificate of Education, plus having the Bronze Medallion and First Aid qualifications on their resumes makes for a great start in the workforce’

The Port Douglas Surf Life Saving Club is a volunteer organisation, part of Surf Life Saving QLD and Surf Life Saving Australia. The 2022 season will kick off over Easter, with an SRC and Bronze Medallion Course starting in May. Follow the Port Douglas Surf Life Saving Club Facebook Page for updates and who to contact.

All patrolling members are properly trained up with either an SRC (Surf Rescue Certificate) or Bronze Medallion, plus each patrol group includes an IRb Driver, Crew and Advanced First Aid Award. All of this is in place to make sure everyone gets to return home to their family after enjoying time on Four Mile Beach.

The Port Douglas Surf Life Saving Club enjoys a well-deserved summer break after an action packed season.

The Volunteer Patrolling Members cover Sundays and Public Holidays from Easter until the end of November each year. 

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