Drowning Toll Rises over Busy Easter

Surf lifesavers and lifeguards made more than 200 rescues and performed nearly 1,000 frst aids over a busy Easter long weekend which saw the drowning toll rise to 42 for the year.

A 17 year old male was declared deceased on scene after lifeguards and members of the public recovered his body from the water at Hastings Point, north of Byron Bay on Saturday 30 March.

The boy had not resurfaced after jumping off the popular Hastings Point Bridge a little after 4pm.

It was an ominous sign for things to come along the coastline, but volunteer lifesavers and lifeguards were resolute in their duty - 204 rescues performed, 832 frst aid deliveries, and 34 ambulances called, making for a busy few days.

Lifeguards last night were also involved in the search for and retrieval of a man from the Parramatta River after he was reported missing just after 5pm. Police Divers eventually recovered the body of the man overnight, some distance from the patrolled zone. Also among the major incidents on our coastline, a near drowning at Kiama on Friday afternoon where a 25 year old male was pulled from the water by members of the public and placed on oxygen by members of patrol. He was later transported to hospital conscious and breathing.

At the notorious Fingal Spit at Port Stephens, Fingal Bay SLSC’s Call Out Team and the on-call Duty Offcer attended to fve people who had been caught in a rip after 6pm on Saturday. Volunteers assisted in delivering frst aid to the group before NSW Ambulance arrived, with one male transported to hospital as a precaution.

On Sunday, a pair of males - aged 18 and 13 - were pulled from the water by a support operations jet ski at Greenhills Beach in Sydney’s south. Both were put on oxygen and transported to hospital, the former in an unconscious state but breathing.

Further north, a male and two children were rescued by a support operations craft conducting a surveillance patrol off Main Beach at Byron Bay, well outside the fagged area.

Beaches are expected to remain busy over the coming weeks, particularly in the north of the state, with the Queensland school holidays beginning today - bringing with it a raft of travellers and holiday makers.

Flags will remain up on NSW beaches until 28 April 2024.

Community invited to ‘Win A Swag’ as part of road safety campaign

To encourage people not to drink drive, Byron Shire Council is offering the chance to enter the ‘Win A Swag – What’s Your Plan B’ competition during April.

“All people have to do is to look for the competition box and complete a short entry form with their plan b at participating venues, for their chance to win a swag”, said Shelley Currie, Byron Shire Council’s Road Safety Offcer.

“We want people to tell us what they’ll do instead of drink driving. That might be getting a taxi home, or setting up a swag at their mate’s house, or something more creative. There are seven venues around the Shire participating, located in Byron Bay, Billinudgel, and Ocean Shores,” she said.

The venues participating in the competition are:

• The Great Northern Hotel – Byron Bay

• Ginn Jinn Café & Restaurant – Byron Bay

• The Cellar Byron Bay – Byron Bay

• The Cellar Byron Plaza – Byron Bay

• Billinudgel Hotel –Billinudgel

• Byron Bay Services Club – Byron Bay

• Ocean Shores Country Club – Ocean Shores.

“Drink driving is a big problem in the shire. NSW Police infringement data shows that Tweed/Byron has the highest incidence of alcohol related crashes and RBT infringements from Newcastle to the Queensland border, and Byron Bay is the number one township in this region. We want to reduce the number of people getting hurt on our roads,“ Mrs Currie said.

This competition is part of a number of road safety campaigns funded by Transport for NSW, that kicked off last year. “We’ve had a great response from people telling us where they want to see Vehicle Activated Signs, that remind people to slow down, and we are hoping to receive lots of entries in this competition,” she said.

To fnd out more about the competition visit Council’s website or go to: https://www.byron. nsw.gov.au/win_a_swag