Lifeguards save life on land, too

‘‘I was just immensely proud of them all.’’

Jake Devine always thought his first rescue would come from the water.

But after months of lifeguard training, the 17-year-old’s lifesaving skills were first put to the test in the hills behind the Paeka¯ka¯riki Surf Life Saving Club, not the water it overlooked.

The Aotea College student and his fellow teenage lifeguards have been credited for helping save the life of a woman who suffered a brain aneurysm on the Ka¯piti Coast beach last month.

Devine and junior lifeguards Ben Strombom, Heath Jordan and Otis Hungerford were training when a woman approached them to raise the alarm.

Her friend had fallen off her bike and something was very wrong.

Led by senior lifeguard Ben Flynn, the teenagers grabbed a first aid kit and followed the distressed woman behind the surf club.

‘‘I was expecting some grazes but there was a woman lying face down on the ground and she was unconscious,’’ Devine said.

The Aotea College student said it took a ‘‘few seconds’’ before his training kicked in and all nervousness vanished.

The injured woman wasn’t breathing well so the lifeguards opened her airway and provided oxygen.

Unsure whether they were dealing with a head or spinal injury, the crew kept her still and supported her head and neck until paramedics arrived.

Flynn said he had only just met the boys – after some time away from his role – and was reassured to know they were all qualified in first aid.

‘‘I had the faith in them knowing what they had to do. I was just immensely proud of them all.’’

The woman was rehabilitating from her injury, he said.

Hungerford said the difference about first aid training and real-life emergencies was the way people reacted, often in a panic.

The 15-year-old Ka¯piti College student was taking the incident in his stride.

‘‘It was just pretty cool to be able to help someone.’’

It was the first time the boys had used their first aid skills but Devine said he hoped it wouldn’t be the last. ‘‘I mean that in a nice way.’’

Surf Life Saving NZ central region manager Charlie Cordwell said the lifeguards showed how important they were to the wider community, not just swimmers.