Phuket Lifeguard Club Ready To Serve

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Phuket Lifeguard Club ready to serve

Waves on Kata Noi Beach in Phuket

PHUKET: -- The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) plans to sign a 10-month contract with the Phuket Lifeguard Club that will see 83 lifeguards assigned to 13 island beaches by the end of the month.

Phuket Lifeguard Club President Prathaiyut ‘Nut’ Chuayuan said he was still waiting to see the contract and had yet to be contacted by PPAO officials, but looked forward to taking on the important job.

“I still need to review the contract before I sign it. If all goes well we can begin training soon, but I think it will be difficult to begin work by the end of the month,” he said.

“The PPAO budget allotment is quite small, which is why there has been so little interest in taking it on. But we need to think about society’s needs and that’s why I would love to try and help. The entire budget is about 10 million baht, which works out at 1 million baht per month. Of this, each of our 83 staff members would earn 10,000 baht per month,” he said.

“Compared to overall expenditure I don’t understand why so little is allotted for such an important safety concern, but if all goes well under the new contract we should have good lifeguards and a good beach safety regimen in place in the future,” he said.

The lifeguards’ safety equipment will include torpedo rescue tubes, rescue boards, inflatable boats, swim fins and four jet-skis.

“I may ask jet-ski operators to help us as well,” Mr Prathaiyut said.

A reliable source in the PPAO confirmed that the two sides were nearing a deal and hoped to have lifeguards back on the beaches by the Songkran holiday next week.

“We are still awaiting written confirmation from the committee of which of the two bidders will be offered the contract,” he said.

A source at Anda Focus Company, the other bidder, said it had not been contacted by the PPAO and believed Phuket Lifeguard Club would get the contract.

The source at the PPAO declined to confirm this, however.

The issue was still under review, but the council expected to have the beaches manned by lifeguards before the end of the month, the source said.

The 13 beaches will be divided into two zones with 28 lifeguard stations as follows:

SOUTH ZONE:

Nai Harn and Yanui: 3 stations, 8 lifeguards

Kata and Karon: 7 stations, 21 lifeguards

Patong: 4 stations, 12 lifeguards

NORTH ZONE:

Laem Sing and Kamala: 3 stations, 9 lifeguards

Surin and Bang Tao: 6 stations, 17 lifeguards

Nai Thon and Nai Yang: 3 stations, 10 lifeguards

Mai Khao: 2 stations, 6 lifeguards

In a related development, a Hawaiian water safety expert has released findings of a study showing that surfers have rescued hundreds of swimmers over the last three monsoon seasons in waters off the Andaman Coast.

Steven A. Martin, an instructor at Prince of Songkla University Phuket Campus, has documented 232 rescues of swimmers by surfers, both residents and tourists. The actual number of lives saved by surfers is probably far higher, he said.

For further details of the study, see the upcoming issue of the Phuket Gazette on newsstands from Saturday.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-04-08

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[ScubaBuddha]

Good news. Better late than never.

However, several questions remain.

Will the guards be proactive and assertive in their rescue and enforcement actions or will the "mai pen rai" attitude prevail as was the norm in the past?

Will their sole duties revolve around water safety as the previous article to this one stated or will the "gaurds" also be renting jet skis and beach chairs as was the norm in the past?

Will they get proper training in CPR/First aid, or better yet BLS (Basic Life Support) along with C-spine management as is the minimum in the west?

Will they be provided with wave/wind forecasts each day?

Will they know how to identify rip currents?

Will the red flags and signage be vigilantly managed to represent current conditions in a way that gives some credibility to them?

These are not difficult tasks and goals, yet they seem to have eluded Phuket lifeguard systems in the past.

Edited April 8, 2010 by ScubaBuddha

[stevenl]

Good news.