Winners Booklet - 2023 Canterbury Awards of Excellence

Rescue of the Year
On Saturday 13th November a Surf Lifeguard on duty noticed
a man in distress. After radioing the base, the Surf Lifeguard
swam towards the patient with a rescue tube, braving very
tough conditions. An IRB was also launched. Despite their
collective strength, three Surf Lifeguards were unable to pull
the man into the IRB due to his extremely large-size.
After several attempts the Surf Lifeguards put two tubes
around the man and swam him safely to shore.
Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated upon reaching the
beach, and the man lost consciousness, and later died. The
challenging nature of the rescue shows the remarkable skills
and bravery of the Surf Lifeguards involved.
Reflecting on the incident, Poulsen said, “There was a large
number of Surf Lifeguards involved and one on her very first
patrol. This day, and the weeks and months that followed was
challenging in supporting those who had not been involved in
anything like this before. I remain in admiration for the way
in which they conducted themselves and the way in which
they dealt with it.”
WINNER
SPENCER PARK SLSC,
SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2022