Volunteers dive into summer beach patrols

The start of summer marks the start of volunteer surf patrols as people flock to the beach for some relief from the heat.

On Sunday, official patrols began at Middleton Beach in Albany and Ocean Beach in Denmark.

Volunteers from Albany Surf Life Saving Club will patrol Middleton Beach every weekend from 8am to 5pm to keep swimmers safe.

The patrols will remain until the end of February and will continue on Sundays until end of March.

Surf Life Saving officer Dani Lynch said the club would use eight patrol teams, with an average of 16 members a team.

“It is an important community service and it has been really effective at keeping people safe in the past,” she said.

“Between the pontoon and the jetty there is a current that washes out towards the point. We get lots of tourists, being a holiday destination, that don’t know this and it is quite deceptive.

“We patrol the beach and set up a safe flag area for swimmers, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t look at the rest of the beach.

“We always have to watch the pontoon and the jetty and give first aid to anyone that comes, whether that be from the playground, carpark or beach.”

The occurrence of cobbler stings also increases at the beach over summer. Club members have a range of skills, with members’ age ranging from under 15 to over 60.

Ms Lynch said this year would be particularly challenging for patrol captains with the new beach upgrades. “We can still use the upstairs of the club to set up a look out, but we will have to move a portable patrol site on to the sand because we are not going to be able to see where we have our flags.

During the busy weeks over school holidays, Christmas and New Year’s, the patrols will ramp up to become daily with paid lifeguards in place.

The volunteers will also be covering public holidays.