With the summer season coming to an end, the National Sea Rescue Institutes (NSRI) recently celebrated a milestone – saving more than 100 lives using their pink rescue buoys.
The pivotal role a floatation device plays in rescuing a drowning victim is often overlooked. And having these devices freely available for public use is making a real impact in the country.
Dr Jill Fortuin, the NSRI’s executive director of drowning prevention, says since the inception of the pink rescue buoy initiative in November 2017, they know of at least 102 lives rescued with their innovative floatation devices.
This number excludes any incidences where the pink buoys were successfully used and replaced without the NSRI being informed that the rescue took place.
“All rescues that have been attempted with a pink rescue buoy have been successful and no harm has come to any rescuers, which is what evidence from similar programmes worldwide have also shown. We have noticed that most incidents where pink buoys are used are when people are caught in rip currents. Making it crucial for beachgoers to understand why they should swim where lifeguards are on duty and know how to spot a rip current,” adds Fortuin.
Andrew Ingram, drowning prevention manager, cites one of many rescues that a pink rescue buoy was used, was 12 hours after it was installed at Glencairn Beach in Simon’s Town.
“A gale-force south-easter was blowing that afternoon (and) naturally this made securing the pole, signage and pink rescue buoy a challenge, but, I just had the feeling it needed to be done,” says Ingram. Fortuin reminds those that swim at the beach, dams, and rivers to look out for the NSRI’s pink rescue buoys.
“They are bright pink in colour allowing them to be easily seen, in an event of someone getting into difficulty in the water, they can be used as emergency flotation until help arrives,” she said.
The NSRI pink rescue buoys are placed at selected beaches along the coastline as well as at some inland dams and rivers.
The roll-out of the NSRI pink rescue buoys started in November 2017. This project is made possible by corporate and public sponsorship of R1 500 per pink buoy, which covers the cost of the pink buoy, the sign and the pole that holds it.
“The pink rescue buoy project is part of an extensive National Drowning Prevention Campaign started by the NSRI,” says Kuhle Mkize, communications and PR manager at Sea Rescue South Africa.
The rescue buoys are bright pink so that they can be easily spotted on the water by responding rescuers. They are unique to NSRI so if you see a pink rescue buoy that is not on its pole it has probably been stolen. “Please encourage the person who has it to return it to the pole that they removed it from. On each pink rescue buoy sign are emergency numbers for the NSRI,” Mkize says.
Pink rescue buoys belong to Sea Rescue and should be returned to their signpost after use so that they can be used to save another life.
“Over 1100 pink rescue buoys have been installed around South Africa and we have recorded 102 lives that have been saved to date using a pink buoy,” Mkize adds.
For more information on this project, or to sponsor a pink rescue buoy, send an email to pinkrescuebuoys@searescue.org.za, WhatsApp 079 802 6773 or visit www.nsri.org.za.
