An inexperienced surfer survived a frightening ordeal at dougmore beach near doonbeg last sunday the 10th of may.The man got into difficulty while surfing at the notoriously dangerous beach after getting caught in a dangerous rip current .He had the good fortune to be rescued by two local tow surfers who were working on rescue techniques at the time. Saul Harvey and John Williams are both members of a newly formed club, The Irish Tow and Surf Rescue Club. Primarily aimed at rescue techniques within their own sport the members of the club who are all vastly experienced surfers/lifeguards/First Aiders are also prepared to become involved in wider rescue duties when going about their training.
Mr Williams and Mr harvy were at dougmore on Sunday working on rescue techniques learned through dedicated rescue courses such as the K38 run for the first time in Liscanor last year."We noticed two men on surfboards who were obviously in difficulty having become trapped in a strong rips said williams.Saul
stayed with one surfer while i helped the other man onto our rescue sledge.The man was in an extremely exhausted state and was very gretefull to get back to the beach safely .We then dropped the second man to the beach. We train in areas like this regularly and are encountering incidents like this more and more at this time of year when more inexperienced surfers are returning to the beaches.
Our club has been set up on a voluntary basis to improve safety within our sport but we are also keen to formalise procedures for incidents such as this.With this in mind we will continue to meet with all relevant groups and organisations to see where this resource can be of help. In hawaii and austraila and now even in the uk the jet ski is recognized as the most effective surf rescue tool available.Without the presence of a ski at dougmore last weekend this could have been a very serious incident indeed. we are very interested in getting jetski a good reputaion as for so many years there has been no laws and safety requierments put in place. hopefuly the club will prosper and give jetskis the good name they desever and keep our beaches and public safer
stayed with one surfer while i helped the other man onto our rescue sledge.The man was in an extremely exhausted state and was very gretefull to get back to the beach safely .We then dropped the second man to the beach. We train in areas like this regularly and are encountering incidents like this more and more at this time of year when more inexperienced surfers are returning to the beaches.
Our club has been set up on a voluntary basis to improve safety within our sport but we are also keen to formalise procedures for incidents such as this.With this in mind we will continue to meet with all relevant groups and organisations to see where this resource can be of help. In hawaii and austraila and now even in the uk the jet ski is recognized as the most effective surf rescue tool available.Without the presence of a ski at dougmore last weekend this could have been a very serious incident indeed. we are very interested in getting jetski a good reputaion as for so many years there has been no laws and safety requierments put in place. hopefuly the club will prosper and give jetskis the good name they desever and keep our beaches and public safer
Written on Monday, 26 April 2010 18:29 by Paul