Water Safety for Nippers
Ratios also change with the nature of the activity
Water activities are an important part of our club day and as a club we are governed by specific rations of participants to water safety volunteers. Ratios also change with the nature of the activity. Water safety for shallow water activities in low risk conditions do not require any water safety volunteers to have an award.
We do however in this instance ask those volunteering in the water to wear a vest to identify them as supporting the Nippers in the water. For deep water activities then this changes. Nipper Rescue Certificate (NRC) is the minimum accreditation that can provide water safety. NRC has limitations in that the holders of this award are trained to use a rescue tube only. Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC) and Bronze Medallion (BM) accredited award holders are trained to use the rescue boards. We are lucky to have a dedicated patrol on a Sunday to our Nippers.
Peggy Bakalis is the Patrol Captain of Cable Patrol and in this role assesses the conditions and then speaks to the AGM’s in their weekly briefing about how to operate safely within the conditions of the day. She then monitors activities up and down the beach ensuring that the ratios are appropriate for the water conditions. Water safety volunteers need to sign on every session at the Meet and Greet tent as you enter the beach.
It is really important that only people with valid awards sign these sheets. Anyone who has signed on the sheet on a Sunday has their hours recorded on the Surfguard system and this then keeps a record of how many hours members have provided water safety for.It is also important that anyone who has signed on stays on the beach and are available for water safety where required. Any water safety award has to be renewed every season by attending one of the Skills Maintenance sessions that are conducted between now and December. New courses in NRC, SRC and BM are currently in the planning stage so keep an eye out on the website, on social media and in this newsletter – we always welcome new volunteers with any of these awards.