Volunteer surf lifesavers have worked through one of the busiest days of the summer to date on NSW beaches, where the drowning of a swimmer at an unpatrolled location on Sunday morning, 21 January, brought the drowning toll since 1 December to 12.
Just after 9am the SLSNSW State Operations Centre became aware of a CPR in progress on a male at the unpatrolled McCauleys Beach, north of Bulli in the Illawarra.
The male was initially assisted from the water by members of the public conscious and breathing but collapsed and fell unconscious on shore. Shortly after, an Inflatable Rescue Boat from Thirroul SLSC arrived and assisted NSW Ambulance with CPR.
The man left the scene by ambulance with CPR still being conducted, and was later declared deceased.
It is the 12th summer drowning on the NSW coastline, all of which have come at unpatrolled locations or after the hours of volunteer lifesaver of lifeguard patrols.
Illawarra lifesavers didn’t stop there, also assisting in a major multi-agency search and rescue operation following the activation of an Emergency Response Beacon (ERB) by a member of the public at the notorious Sharkies Beach near Coledale.
