On the 21st November, the 15-17yr Leadership Program headed to Sydney to visit the State Operation Centre, Rescue 30 and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. The purpose of the trip was to allow the participants to discover the various opportunities within Surf Life Saving that are part of the Support Services.
Our first stop was the State Operation Centre or better known on the beach as surfcom. While at surfcom we were given the opportunity to see surfcom in full swing with morning sign-on and shown how the surfcom can coordinate multiple situations at once.
This was then followed up by a presentation on how surfcom actually works and is able to provide the necessary support to lifesaver on the beach and coordinate state natural disaster.
Thank you to Andrew Ugarte and his team at the State Operation Centre for hosting us and letting us have a look around. It was interesting to see how the 4p’s play a vital role in provide accurate and precise information for inter-agency coordination.
Next we travelled to Malabar to visit the offshore rescue boat, Rescue 30. Rescue 30 operates across the Sydney coastline performing rescues on the various rock shelves and supporting beach patrols.
Two members of the group, Noah Nakagawa and Huxley Luntungan were lucky enough to be patients in a simulated rock shelf rescue.
Thank you to Doug and his crew for spending time to show us around the Rescue 30 base and giving us a presentation on the importance of Rescue 30 and the other offshore rescue boats.
We finished the day with a visit to the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter. The team gave us a tour of the hanger and a quick presentation on a couple of real-life incidents they had been called to recently. This was then followed by an exhibition of the helicopter.
Thank you to the team for the hosting us. It was great to see how the skills we learn as lifesavers can be readily transferred to any rescue situation.
Overall it was a great day with a bunch of exceptional young lifesavers from across the Central Coast. The day showed us various possibilities for lifesavers in support operations within Surf Life Saving.
Next up for the Leadership Program is a demonstration day with multiple rescue agencies Surf Life Saving works alongside during coastal rescues.