North Queensland lifesavers end their season with nine lives saved

Volunteer surf lifesavers from Mission Beach to Port Douglas have saved nine lives this patrol season.

Since the season started in April, more than 9,200 hours had been dedicated by volunteers to protecting the lives of beachgoers.

During this time, the red and yellow army performed 6,862 preventative actions to proactively safeguard swimmers, and applied 205 first aid treatments.

Surf lifesavers will patrol beaches one last time this weekend, before the North Queensland 2020 patrol season officially ends on Sunday.

SLSQ North Queensland Regional Operations Manager Jen Rees said despite a challenging start to the season for North Queensland’s volunteers they had performed a remarkable job.

“We could not be prouder of our surf lifesaving volunteers,” she said

“Their efforts over the past eight months have to be commended, especially in light of some difficult circumstances.

“Our members continued to man their post throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and remained committed to our vision of zero preventable drowning deaths in Queensland public waters.

 “The work of our lifesavers has been nothing short of remarkable, especially when you consider the number of lives saved this season.”

Lifeguards will continue to patrol beaches across the region until volunteers return to the beaches next year.

Please Note: 

• Etty Bay SLSC and Mission Beach SLSC will continue to patrol until 6 Dec 2020
• Statistics cover the period of 4 April 2020 to 24 November 2020 for volunteer services only