Swansea RNLI lifeguards have had a busy season, despite the poor weather in recent weeks, and have notched up a number of significant rescues as well as providing extra guards patrolling at events such as Beach Break Live and Aberavon Beach Festival.
The lifeguards, however, don’t expect any recognition or reward for their lifesaving but messages of thanks and donations to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the charity that saves lives at seam always gives the guards an extra sense of achievement about their work.
Earlier this year, Port Eynon lifeguards received a specially drawn thank-you card from four-year-old Izzy Forester from Buckinghamshire for their first-aid help when she injured her foot at the beach while on holiday last summer.
And in recent weeks the guards at Port Eynon and Langland have received heartfelt thanks from two people they gave medical assistance to at beaches in the first week of August.
Four-year-old Toby Fell was on holiday at Port Eynon with his family from Huddersfield when he fell and injured his head requiring treatment from RNLI lifeguards who were first on scene.
Toby sent a hand-drawn thank-you card to the guards, which now takes pride of place on the noticeboard in the lifeguard unit at the beach.
Another person who appreciated the timely intervention of RNLI lifeguards was pensioner Ken Marchant, a Langland resident, who was taken ill on the road leading to the beach on Thursday 5 August and needed emergency first aid before being transported to hospital.
Ken was so impressed with the lifeguards’ help that he returned after being discharged from hospital to deliver a £100 donation to the lifeguards at the Langland Bay beach unit.
Area lifeguard supervisor Tom Burgess said: ‘Our lifeguards are professionally trained to work as first responders to the ambulance service, which requires them to be trained to use defibrillators, administer oxygen therapy, recognise and treat casualties with spinal injuries and prioritise responses to medical emergencies. ‘These skills aid the lifeguards in dealing with critical incidents, and of course we are always pleased when their efforts bring a response like this.’
‘Our primary task is to provide a safe environment at the beach and prevent incidents, but increasingly we are able to bring our professional first aid training into responding beyond the immediate confines of the beach. Of course, we are always glad to help if we can be first on the scene.’
