LIFESAVERS at the Tea Gardens Hawks Nest Surf Life Saving Club (TGHNSLSC) are seeing some much-appreciated upgrades installed at their gear shed on Bennetts Beach.
While a small army of SLSC volunteers were taking advantage of a rare sunny day this autumn on Sunday 15 June to air out and maintain lifesaving equipment, the club’s volunteer building manager, David Lau, revealed the in-progress upgrades.
“The main difference is the dedicated first aid area,” David said.
“Before, first aid was just done on a bed in the corner of the big bare room, now it will have a dedicated and semi-private area, with supplies ready at hand and more easily restocked.
“The building works are due to the increased number of treatments for first aid this past season.
“The internal renovations of the gear shed’s room will also make it a central facility for drones, first aid, radio communications, and a kitchenette for lifesavers who are on duty – a bit more than the plastic table and chairs they have had to date.
“The gear shed will also soon see a specially designed base unit area for emergency equipment, and surf club volunteers who also happen to be nurses have given valuable input to inform the new layout and design.”
A hot-water shower is also going in outside, specifically for the treatment of blue bottle stings.
Last season saw quite a few of the stingers in the waters at Bennetts Beach, and the lack of hot water in the gear shed meant that lifesavers had to carry buckets of hot water down from the bar kitchen in the adjacent clubhouse.
The works have been made possible due to community donations, surf club fundraising, profits from the volunteer-run bar, and the club competing for a bite of government grants.
David has been planning for the upgrades since January, and is hoping that everything will be installed and operational by September, when the new beach season starts again.
“It will be very civilised and more hygienic when it’s all done,” he said.
In the 2024-25 beach season, more than 1,500 preventative actions were recorded, more than 32,000 people visited the beach, 400-plus rips were recorded, and 112 first aid calls were made, triple the previous season’s record.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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