Clark ready, Aable
WELL-KNOWN Gold Coast surfing paramedic Gavan Clark is launching his new business Aable Training this month in the Maldives.
He and partner Sally Hogan (both accredited Advanced First Aid trainers) will provide a course specifically for surf guides that includes first aid, surf rescue and other elements such as customer service and hospitality.
As surf travel is exploding worldwide with more charter boats and surf camps opening every year, there is a real need to be properly equipped to deal with injuries in remote locations.
More surfers are being attracted to remote area reef breaks and the average surfing ability has dropped alarmingly.
Recently there has been a big increase in serious injuries and, at times, fatalities.
“I’ve found a lot of surf charter boat and resort operators have staff with little or no accredited first-aid qualifications or training, and little, if any, medical or rescue equipment,” Clark said.
“In this age of litigation, surf travel operators are leaving themselves open to lawsuits if a case of injury or death is found to be due to a lack of duty of care.”
His training program began in the Mentawais, where he supplied an automatic defibrillator and rescue spinal board, and offered their surf guide and crew a full first-aid training course.
Clark started surfing on the Coast when he was 10.
When pro surfing was established in the 1980s, he was a top competitor, placing runner-up in the 1984 Byron Easter Classic. But rather than turning pro, Clark opted to be a paramedic/helicopter rescue crewman, a position he has held for 30 years on the Gold Coast.
He says the job has been very rewarding and the main motivation has been “helping people”.
But he’s seen his share of tragic situations.
“I’ve saved a lot of lives but have seen many lives lost from accidents, MVAs, heart attacks ...” he said. “The hardest of all was kids in pools.”
Clark’s most rewarding experience was saving a baby in a pram that fell into the river at Cronin Island back in 1991 and survived after 10 minutes underwater (the Bulletin did a big story on it).
He also performed some amazing rescues while based on the CareFlight helicopter for the past 20 years.
In the ’90s, he was driving past Burleigh Point in the ambulance when he heard on the two-way that 1989 world champion Martin Potter had severely injured himself falling on his fins.
The Burleigh Boardriders assisted Potter over the rocks, allowing Clark to perform a fast rescue and safe passage to hospital.
It was a combination of lucky timing and quick management that saved the life of the now World Tour webcast commentator.
Clark and Hogan will be at the Kirra Teams event from March 2-4 to offer first aid.