Summer came early to the Hastings on Saturday, September 29 as the red and yellow flags proudly planted in the sand signalling the return of volunteer surf lifesavers for the 2018/19 patrol season.
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Hastings surf lifesavers are among more than 20,000 active volunteers who will contribute their time to keeping the public safe on local beaches each weekend and public holiday until April 2019.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will again take to the sky to protect beachgoers as part of a larger trial of the technology to determine their effectiveness as shark mitigation and beach safety tools
The NSW Coastal Safety Report was also released for the third successive season with a number of key findings made.
The report found that NSW surf lifesavers rescued more than 4300 people last season and contributed more than 660,000 hours on patrol.
Sadly, there were 39 coastal drowning deaths, six more than was recorded the previous year, and is just above the 10-year average figure of 38.
Of most concern however, was that the majority of these occurred with men who got into difficulty swimming outside patrolled locations.
Educating beachgoers about the importance of the flagged area will continue to form a vital part of surf lifesaving’s safety messages as summer looms.
SLSNSW CEO Steven Pearce urged the public to observe the key surf safety messages this season to keep themselves and their families safe.
“This season, we want to draw a line in the sand. We share the government’s concern at the number of coastal drowning deaths that continue to occur along our coast.
“From this Saturday our volunteers will be back on the beaches doing what they do best, which is keeping an eye on the thousands of people who visit our beautiful coastline.
“We make no apologies for continuing to push our safety messages. It’s really simple, we encourage all beachgoers to stop, think and plan. Don’t swim at unpatrolled locations, know your limitations and learn how to spot and avoid rip currents,” said Mr Pearce.
Town Beach, Flynns Beach, Lighthouse Beach, Lake Cathie, Bonny Hills and North Haven will now all be patrolled beaches until April 28, 2019.
