Canterbury Search and Rescue (SAR) cast the net wide to fill a safety skills gap in marine body recovery.
The Canterbury SAR team is sometimes required to work around rocky cliffs and treacherous seas.
“Helicopter access often isn’t an option due to the instability of the cliffs,which means Police SAR members have to swim into the cliff areas from Coastguard vessels to recover victims," says reserve SAR squad member Constable Tom Denman.
“It’s often in choppy and surging seas and requires navigation and entry from the water onto the rocky base of the cliffs. It can be dangerous and not everyone is confident in that environment.”
Tom and the SAR team reflected on the unique skills required for the job and put their heads together to see how they could fill the gap.
“We need Police SAR members who understand DVI and SAR operational processes, but we also need people with experience and skill operating in this type of unique marine environment.”
A Surf Lifeguard himself, Tom identified the missing piece of the puzzle.
“Surf Life Saving NZ are experts in the inshore rescue space,” Tom says. “We already had three SAR members who were active Surf Lifeguards at their local clubs and we knew there were other people in the district who held their Surf Lifeguard Award.”
The Surf Lifeguard Award requires its members to prove their swimming competency in challenging surf and open water conditions. They also have a Rock Rescue Training module that applies directly to the skills required for body recoveries around cliff faces.
“We decided the best option would be to use the existing skills from across the district and have a mix of Police SAR and general constabulary who can work together on these operations.”
The three organisations, Police, Surf Lifesaving NZ and Coastguard, got together for their second combined training session last month.
“All three organisations worked really well and seamlessly together. I think it really shows the importance of collaboration across the sector and the quality of outcomes that can be achieved as a result," says Tom.
“The incident controllers can now also be confident that the staff who are heading into that environment are appropriately skilled and as safe as they can be.”