900 call-outs for lifeguards

FIVE successful rescues were mounted on Vera beaches by the lifeguard team this summer. But in total the team dealt with 900 situationw, the majority jellyfish stings or minor wounds.

“The best team of lifeguards is the one that carries out fewest rescues,” said Rudy Mahiques,the lifeguard team co-ordinator for Vera. Among the five successful full rescues – all of them successful – was when a man and his daughter were stranded when their boat went adrift after the engine had broken down. 

However, Mahiques emphasizes that the main purpose should be prevention, and so his team has performed a total of 900 actions this summer. 90% were due to 

In addition to the jellyfish stings and minor injuries, the team also successfulyl handled concussion, one cardiac arrest and a boy with a seizure. Vera has 13 lifeguards, a technician in sanitary transport and a nurse. 

Their equipment includes a Zodiac boat, an ambulance, two quad bikes, a boat, a defibrillator, gurneys and emergency oxygen supplies.