A delegation of Indian lifesavers is visiting Australia in a bid to reduce the horrific drowning rate in their country, with an estimated 40,000 drowning deaths each year.

Rashtriya Life Saving Society founder, Rear Admiral Purushottam Dutt Sharma, and group of three lifesavers are currently on the Gold Coast, to train with SLSAâ„¢s Australian Lifeguard Services, and to witness the 2005 NRMA Insurance Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

A delegation of Indian lifesavers is visiting Australia in a bid to reduce the horrific drowning rate in their country, with an estimated 40,000 drowning deaths each year.

Rashtriya Life Saving Society founder, Rear Admiral Purushottam Dutt Sharma, and group of three lifesavers are currently on the Gold Coast, to train with SLSA’s Australian Lifeguard Services, and to witness the 2005 NRMA Insurance Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

It’s all part of a strategy by Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) to use Australian lifesaving expertise to improve aquatic safety across the Asia Pacific region. “India knows nothing about lifesaving and that’s what we are trying to change. With more than 300 drowning deaths in the coastal area of Goa alone, it’s an absolute tragedy that must stop, Mr Sharma said.

SLSA President, Ron Rankin AM, said Australia had long been an innovator in lifesaving techniques and has been instrumental in setting up other lifesaving organisations across the region. “As a foundation member of the International Lifesaving Federation (ILS), we have a responsibility to use Australian expertise and training techniques to save lives in other countries, particularly when the drowning rate in India is 1000 times that of Australia, he said.

The Indian delegation has spent the past couple of days learning practical lifesaving techniques and also spent time visiting the Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) head office in Brisbane, where they were given an overview of administration, fundraising and other operational issues.

Mr Sharma was moved to found the Rashtriya Life Saving Society in the wake of an accident which saw 28 children drown after a bus rolled into a river. “Following this tragedy we started out teaching resuscitation, then first aid and now lifesaving skills, and with the help of SLSA we are planning to open our first surf clubs within six months, he said.

A group of Australian surf lifesavers will visit India to continue the exchange of information in the next 12 months, and SLSA will support a joint effort to establish a national water safety organisation in that country.

Mr Rankin said that SLSA had also offered to assist replacement of rescue equipment and gear, much of which was lost in the devastating Asian tsunami on Boxing Day. “The response from the Australian surf lifesaving community to this tragedy has been overwhelming, and we are committed to continuing this program of support, he said.