Just got this email this morning. What a great initiative.

Given recent events in the South West I wonder if Surfing WA might look at something similar.

The Surfers Rescue 24/7 initiative to educate surfers in life saving techniques was sparked by a need to cover the gap between patrolled beaches and remote beaches in an effort to reduce deaths from drowning in NSW. With only five percent of NSW beaches patrolled, Surfing NSW CEO Mark Windon believes that surfers can help prevent drownings in black spot areas. “Surfers are on the beach from dawn to dusk, 365 days a year. A lot of them are responsible for hundreds of thousands of unsung rescues,” said Windon. “The course is substantially quicker and cheaper than any other rescue qualification in the market and means more locations are now patrolled in an unofficial capacity." In 2013, Surfers Rescue 24/7 has won the Community Education Program of the Year at the NSW Water Safety Awards in conjunction with the AUSTSWIM NSW Awards of Excellence in Sydney. Four-time ASP World Surfing Champion Mark Richards is a huge supporter of the course. “I found the whole Surfers Rescue 24/7 course to be very enlightening and it made me think about what I would do if I happened to stumble across a bad situation that’s happening in the water,” Richards said. “I think this is something everybody should be taught. A course like this should be part of a school’s curriculum. It’s just as important as learning to read or write. “A surfer’s recreational enjoyment can often take place in some pretty dangerous environments, so it’s safe to say that over the course of their life, they will have to assist in a rescue or even perform CPR on someone. I think it’s essential for anyone who surfs to have these skill sets. I thought the course was great.” Upcoming dates:
Surfers Rescue 24/7 - Cronulla, Sydney - May 2nd, 2015
Surfers Rescue 24/7 - Port Macquarie - May 23rd, 2015
Surfers Rescue 24/7 - Kiama - May 23rd, 2015
Surfers Rescue 24/7 - Ballina - June 13th, 2015 To register for an upcoming course, check out: Surfing NSW Website

Great idea. It's free - and you get your CPR certificate, that you would have to pay for elsewhere. Even though I hold my Senior First Aid (now, Apply First Aid) certificate and a few other qualifications.. it never hurts to keep up on latest techniques and have things fresh in your mind - so booked a spot!

I think in WA it would be great. Id love to re train..

Plus there's a 'board rescue' element to the training, which would definitely be handy.