Last Saturday the Heritage Centre was a hive of activity with the St Francis Kromme Trust Heritage Kids, parents and residents watched Woodridge School life savers do a safety demo on an ‘Action Beach Morning’.
Rob Smith (chairman of WSL Club) gave a talk on Beach Safety and provided valuable ideas on how to ‘Break the grip of the rip tide’
His first piece of advice was to never swim alone.
He then went on to explain rip currents to the audience.
Rip currents are often not readily or easily identifiable to the average beachgoer so it is very important that we familiarise ourselves with the signs to look out for. If in doubt – do not enter the water!
Some of the signs are:
A break in the incoming wave pattern .
Disruption in the uniformity of incoming waves.
A channel of churning, choppy water
The water may look suspiciously smooth.
An area having a notable difference in water colour.
There may be bubbles, a line of foam, seaweed, cloudy water or debris moving steadily out beyond the surf zone.
Sometimes there are no signs at all.
Panicked swimmers often try to counter a rip current by swimming straight back to shore—putting themselves at risk of drowning because of fatigue.
Once in the Grip of the Rip:
Don’ fight it. Float, conserve energy and plan how to get out of it.
Signal to someone on the beach that you need help.
If possible without getting exhausted swim parallel to the shore until you are out of the rip, then swim towards the shore.
If the current is too wide and powerfull to swim out of, let it carry you offshore, then swim back with the waves on either side of the rip.
The most important lesson is not to panic. Rip currents do not pull people under the water. They are horizontal flows that pull people away from the shore.
Drowning occurs when people are unable to keep themselves afloat. Most often drownings are caused by exhaustion from panicking. Rip currents can occur in waist deep water.
The safety talk and demo was arranged by St Francis Kromme Trust in conjunction with Woodridge School life saving club.
All articles written, all photos taken, plus all adverts designed, by the Editor and printed in the St Francis Chronicle are protected by Copyright. Reproduction or copying of any part of the contents of this newspaper and its concept and design can only be done with the Editor’s written permission.
