Point Lonsdale lifesavers awarded for mass rescue
The captain of a Bellarine Peninsula lifesaving club has commended a group of trainees that “stepped up” during a life-and-death 20-person rescue in treacherous conditions.
If it wasn’t for the quick thinking of a group of trainee lifesavers and their veteran colleagues, 20 people could have lost their lives in one of the most significant rescue operations of the year.
The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club has been nationally recognised after a group of 14 volunteers pulled off a major rescue operation in treacherous conditions.
The club received a certificate of merit at Surf Life Saving Australia’s awards of excellence in Sydney earlier this month, for executing the large-scale rescue involving 17 swimmers and three kayakers who had been swept into a rip in April.
The 14-person team, including several trainee lifesavers, sprung into action after being alerted to the incident during a demonstration on how to use inflatable rescue boats.
Club captain Jess Robinson, who was one of the volunteers involved in the operation, said the ability of the trainees to step up helped prevent a tragedy.
“Sometimes when you’re training it all feels hypothetical and ultimately you’re hoping that a 15-year-old trainee never has to do CPR,” she said.
“This incident showed how important that training is because as soon as it mattered everyone stepped up and knew exactly what they needed to do.”
Ms Robinson, who began lifesaving as a young child and has been club captain for the past three years, said it was the biggest rescue operation she had ever been involved in.
“You do patrol captain courses, leadership courses and get experience managing patrol day to day, but the specific incident commanding is something that you just learn from experience,” she said.
“It showed me that all my training really did come in handy because, although I hadn’t had to coordinate a scene this big before, I knew what I needed to do.”
Point Lonsdale was one of two surf clubs located on the Bellarine Peninsula to receive a meritorious award for a major rescue effort in extreme conditions.
Ocean Grove was also awarded for the impressive night time rescue of three fishermen after their boat capsized off Barwon Heads in May.
Ms Robinson said the club never expected to be awarded for its efforts, however it was an honour to be recognised alongside many other incredible surf clubs across Australia.
“Obviously none of us ever expect any awards when we go into a situation like that and it’s the last thing on your mind but we were so grateful,” she said.
“It is super rewarding to reflect back and think, ‘wow, we really did save lives that day’.”
Point Lonsdale SLSC also received a rescue recognition award for their efforts at the Life Saving Victoria awards held earlier this year.
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Originally published as Point Lonsdale lifesavers awarded for mass rescue
