Australian Sailing and Surf Life Saving collaborate to provide a first aid/safety course with a difference.

On the 18 October a safety and first aid workshop was held at Adelaide Sailing Club for the benefit of all South Australian Sailing Clubs. 

This was a joint venture with Australian Sailing and Surf Life Saving South Australia. With the combined knowledge from both organisations the day proved to be a success and the first of many more events to come.

Many South Australian Sailing Clubs have a close proximity to their local Surf Life Saving Club. In particular, the linkage between Somerton Yacht Club and the  Somerton Surf Club was pivotal in the management of an incident which took place in February 2020, and which lead to the joint workshop.  

Regional Manager for South Australia Ian Leeson, said that the  Somerton Yacht Club sought to do a joint venture with their local Surf Life Saving club to share skills and assist other SA Clubs to learn from the incident, and to work cooperatively in case of a larger marine incident that both clubs could assist in. Also, the Surf Life Saving crew were able to impart their knowledge of adapting first aid to a marine setting.

Some key learnings shared from the event were: Prepare and plan for emergencies in your specific location and with your specific craft - practically run through scenarios with key people at your clubs. In an emergency requiring first aid - do what you can, how you can, and with what you have available at the time - Something is better than nothing! It is critical during club activity to know who is on the water, their emergency contact details, and any pre-existing medical conditions, i.e. registration, sign on, SailPass.

If your club has a Surf Life Saving Club operating close to it, take the opportunity to engage with them.  It could be a chance to exchange skill sets and experiences, to assist with the safety of our sport.

Safety and Risk Management documents can be found here: https://www.sailingresources.org.au/safety/risk-management/

By Melanie Peasey https://www.sailing.org.au/about/ourstaff/