Lifeguards saving lives on land
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.
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.
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, he said.
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.’’