isla

international
Percentage of Population (%)
Rock Fishing Snapshot
2004 –15
Analysis
On average, at least 13 people drown per year as a result of rock fishing.
It’s the third highest number of deaths for an individual activity.
Average deaths per year
13
Reference: SLSA National Coastal Safety Report 2015
Location
WA
22%
VIC
8%
TAS
4%
QLD
3%
SA
1%
Reference: SLSA National Coastal Safety Report 2015
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
8%
TOTAL
10%
Male
Rank
3rd
Average Fatality Rate
0.06
per 100,000 population
NSW
62%
5% 5%
Female
Reference: SLSA National Coastal Safety Survey 2015
NSW/ACT
QLD
Key Demographic
Men aged
25–64
years
Australian residents,
Australian-born
and overseas-born
30
Contributing Factors
No lifejacket usage
Dangerous conditions
Fishing alone
2014–15: NATIONAL PARTICIPATION IN COASTAL ROCK FISHING
9%
5%
VIC
11%
WA
9%
SA
14%
TAS
11%
NT
0
1
11
4
85
Fatalities
137
fatalities 2004–15
6
94%
were men
Average age
45
years
Participation
• 1.3 million rock fishers
• 0.6 million frequent
rock fishers (at least
once a month)
• Occasional rock fishers
average 9 hours per year
• Frequent rock fishers
average 309 hours per year
TrygFonden
Livredder
Service
Lifeguarding with
the happiest people
in the world
Declan Etheridge, Australian
Lifeguard Service, WA
During the 2015 Danish summer, I spent two
months lifeguarding on exchange with TrygFonden
Livredder Service, Denmark, and it was well worth
the experience—the women are beautiful and the
Danes are the happiest people in the world.
I shared the experience with two other lucky Australian lifeguards—
Harlan Mullins from City of Stirling lifeguards, WA, and Kyle Palmer
from Australian Lifeguard Service, Queensland.
When you’re lifeguarding in another country there are always
differences and that’s definitely the case in Denmark—even their
CPR is slightly different but that’s because they use the European
standard. The Danes include an additional first aid check known as
ABCE—airway, breathing, circulatory and environment. It’s easy to
TrygFonden Livredder Service
Promotes Five Rules
1 Learn to swim.
2 Never swim alone.
3 Learn to read the water and wind conditions.
4 Familiarise yourself with the beach.
5 Do not lose sight of your children.
Declan Etheridge next to a Danish lifeguard tower.
forget how fast the temperature
can change—one day,
supposedly the coldest day in
July in 15 years, it was 10
degrees on average when a few
days before it was 32 degrees.
TrygFonden Livredder service
do an exceptional job in testing
their lifeguards on a weekly
basis with surprise ‘in-situ’ days
where a disguised TrygFonden
employee will swim out between the flags and raise their hand. The
lifeguards are then tested on how they react, and how fast they
perform. The swimmer is usually ‘unconscious’ when the lifeguard
gets to them so they must then treat the situation as a real life
incident. On the beach they continue with a mannequin and are then
tested for 5–10 minutes. This testing increases the confidence of the
lifeguards, and allows them to reflect on what they could have done
better and how they see themselves. As Australian lifeguards in
Denmark all three of us were also given the opportunity to ‘surprise
test’ the Danes. I believe this testing process would have a huge
benefit in Australia with all lifeguards and lifesavers.
All open water lifeguards in Denmark have been trained to use an
Inshore Rescue Boat (IRB) and all the Australians had to learn how
to do a solo pick-up. It was simple, and yet a little confusing at the
same time. The boats themselves are slightly different to ours; the
Danes don’t have cover/padding over the nose of the boat to
cushion your fall when you’re crewing; their motors have gears on
the lever hand, not on the side; and for all unconscious pickups the
boats come with a floating GPS device to throw in the water in case
the patient was with someone else—pretty smart!
Denmark gets waves on the west coast and further north, but they
are spilling wind waves without much power, making it enjoyable on
a rescue board. And if you love windsurfing you will always have
enough onshore wind. On the east coast, it’s flat and your chances
of getting an offshore are a lot greater.
The lifeguard towers/shelters are superb—they are practical, wind
proof, and are an iconic feature on the Danish coastline. For two
lifeguards manning a beach, having the ability to get to the top of the
tower in a couple of seconds is great. Love them!
A few things I wish I'd known before heading over to Denmark:
• Setting up a tax file number (Danish CPR number) and bank
account in Denmark isn't easy—it took me six weeks to sort mine
out and I was still struggling even with an EU Passport.
• Learning German is probably more useful than Danish due to the
amount of German tourists.
• Buying beer is the same price as soft drink but daily expenses are
high especially public transport and accommodation.
• Almost everyone between the ages of 20 and 30 are students.
• Lifeguards all want to get the last couple of weeks of the season
off, so it’s easy to pick up extra shifts.
TrygFonden, in collaboration with the Danish Swimming
Federation, manages TrygFonden Surf Life Saving.
It's always great to see how other services around the world
adapt—know your service, know your clientele, know your
environment. I don't know how I'd go in Denmark as I'm not
even a big fan of the cold winter offshore winds in Port
Macquarie! Great work by the staff, managers and trainers in
the Denmark lifeguard service.
Grant Hudson, Guest Editor
44 Australian Lifeguard Magazine
Australian Lifeguard Magazine 45