Boxing Day Swim 2002

Dictionary definition of mad...swimming in the North Sea on Boxing Day - our Boxing Day T-shirt A mild winter meant the water was a comparatively warm 8°C (same as the air temperature), but the storms of the winter had taken their toll on Whitley Bay beach and removed virtually every single grain of sand, meaning that we had to walk half way up the beach in the driving rain to find a safe place to go in!

Although the relatively warm water temperature should have meant a record attempt, a beach covered in little pebbles and stones meant that playing in the waves was rough on the skin. However, we still managed to beat most of the people in the beach - who seemed to be even wetter than us!

- More Boxing Day photos here.

North Tyneside beaches get Defibrillator

Lisa Currie and Geoff Wade in training with the defibrillator 28/05/02 - North Tyneside's beaches will be an even safer place this summer thanks to First Responder Co-ordinator Barbara Broadbelt who has donated a heart defibrillator to the beaches for the summer season.

The defibrillators, which are used to shock the heart of a patient who has had a cardiac arrest, have previously only been carried by paramedics and specially trained first-responder units, but now North Tyneside's beach lifeguards will be trained in their use in the case of anybody having a heart attack on the beaches. NSVL's Defibrillator Instructors will be used to provide the initial and ongoing training in this sophisticated piece of equipment throughout the summer.

Beach lifeguards are already trained to a high standard in CPR, but without early heart defibrillation within 8 minutes the chances of survival for a heart attack patient are small.

Hopefully the defibrillator will not have to be used, but if the worse should happen on the beach help will be close at hand.

New Beach Lifeguard pilot scheme pioneered by NSVL

28/05/02 - Four trainees at NSVL became the first people in the country to complete the new beach lifeguard pilot scheme syllabus.

The course, run by two NSVL Beach TAs who also work for North Tyneside Council as Lifeguard Co-ordinators, was a joint initiative between NSVL and North Tyneside Council to qualify extra lifeguards ready for the summer season.

Simon Almond and Marcus Jackson trained the lifeguards to the standard of the new joint RLSS / SLSA / RNLI beach lifeguard pilot scheme syllabus. This included additions to current RLSS syllabus such as Oxygen therapy, a timed 1,600m run (in under 8 minutes), and spinal management in open water.

NSVL was chosen as one of only 10 clubs in the country to be involved with the pilot scheme - the only coastal lifeguard club in the North to be involved. The aim of the pilot scheme is to assess how the new syllabus works. Over the course of the summer ongoing training and any beach lifeguard courses run will be assessed and the people involved will be asked to give feedback about the new syllabus. This will hopefully lead to a consolidated new award with improvements for summer 2003.

Working for a safer coastline

Auxiliary Coastguards and members of NSVL 10/03/02 - North Tyneside's coastline is becoming a safer place thanks to a new training initiative between the Coastguard and beach lifeguards.

NSVL member and one of North Tyneside Council's Water Safety Officers, Simon Almond, arranged a one-day inter-disciplinary training day for the local Auxiliary Coastguards.

The day consisted of a pool session at Sunderland University pool, followed by interactive classroom work at NSVL Headquarters, a resuscitation and first aid refresher and practical training in a very cold North Sea (7°C, not counting the wind chill factor!)

Demonstrating lifiting a casualty out of the water Simon, an RLSS Beach Lifeguard Trainer Assessor had been approached by Stuart McGill, the sector manager for HM Coastguard, to arrange the training day, the first ever of its kind on the north east coast.

Stuart said, "It is good to see the auxiliary Coastguards, the volunteer rescue organisations, the RLSS and North Tyneside Council co-operating so closely, sharing their knowledge and expertise to save life in our area."

Simon brought in to assist him two of NSVL's National Trainer Assessors, Joe Welsh and Malcolm Dunn, as well as five other members of the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards who worked on North Tyneside's beaches last summer.

Simon Tait, the station officer for Sunderland Auxiliary Coastguard said, "The day has given us valuable insight and experience of working in cold and difficult conditions. We only enter the water as a last resort but it is good to have gained some knowledge of the techniques used by lifeguards."

One of the primary aims of the day was to train the Coastguards in the use of the Baywatch style rescue cans they carry in their vehicles, but don't know how to use. The rigid rescue cans are similar to the flexible torpedo buoys used by lifeguards, but they have some disadvantages compared to the torpedo buoy. In the cold North Sea a rigid plastic rescue can is difficult for a cold casualty to grip onto, as well as being dangerous if it should hit their head. Flexible torpedo buoys are also more suitable for rescuing unconscious casualties as they can be clipped round the casualty to keep them afloat. Although it is HM Coastguard policy to supply their vehicles with rigid rescue cans the demonstration was certainly eye-opening for Stuart McGill: "It's only when you see the two demonstrated next to each other that you realise how much better the flexible torpedo buoy is. It's definitely something to look into."

The benefits of using flexible torpedo buoys were demonstrated North Tyneside's lifeguards have worked ever closely with HM Coastguard since attaining declared facility status last year, the first local authority beach lifeguard unit on the North Sea to do so. This enables North Tyneside's summer beach lifeguards to work more closely with the other search and rescue organisations in the event of a major incident.

Simon Almond said, "This is the first of what I hope will be many such days involving Auxiliary Coastguards and Volunteer Life Brigades from Newbiggin to Sunderland."

To see more photos of the day, go to the photos page.

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