Surf Life Saving Australia has recently provided training and expertise to the Indian Government to reduce the 40,000 drowning deaths that occur along the Indian coastline each year.

Surf Life Saving Australia has recently provided training and expertise to the Indian Government to reduce the 40,000 drowning deaths that occur along the Indian coastline each year.

Two qualified instructors from Surf Life Saving New South Wales (Australia) visited the city of Goa, on India’s west coast, to kick off a programme of lifeguard recruitment and training to prepare the lifeguards for the crowds arriving at the beaches in October. The newly recruited lifeguards have already raised flags on the beaches where they are guarding, encouraging visitors to swim in safe areas. The lifeguards plan to have flags raised at 15 beaches in Goa in October and they are being given the skills to rescue people who get into difficulty when swimming in the surf.

The Australian instructors taught over 150 lifeguards the SLSA Bronze Medallion course during an intensive three-week programme, improving swimming skills and introducing board rescue and basic CPR training. They then selected a group of lifeguards who will take the surf lifesaving skills to other areas of the sub-continent as part of the programme.

Craig Carney, one of the instructors, said Goa was selected as the area to start lifeguard education because over 70 people drowned along 15 beaches in the region last year. “Bringing this training to lifeguards in Goa means that drowning number will fall. We know the instructors we have appointed have the skills they need to take the training to other areas and that means fewer people will lose their lives in the surf.”

This initiative is one of a number of programmes conducted by Surf Life Saving Australia in the Asia-Pacific region.