Coastal Bystander Rescue Drowning

An important new study led by Jaz Lawes of Surf Life Saving Australia was recently published in the journal PLOS ONE which documents and characterises bystander rescuer fatalities at Australian coastal waterways between July 2004 and June 2019.

You can read the open source article here: Dying to help: Fatal bystander rescues in Australian coastal environments.

During the study period, 67 people died while attempting a rescue – almost 5 per year.  Most occurred in NSW, at beaches (mostly in rip currents), and in regional and remote areas more than 1 km from the nearest lifesaving service. Most of the victims were males and were either family or friends of the person they were trying to rescue. What really stands out from this study is that 97% of the victims attempted the rescue without a flotation device – pretty powerful evidence of the importance of always taking a flotation device if you find yourself in a bystander rescue situation.

By the way, the picture below shows a ‘human chain’ of bystander rescuers attempting to rescue someone caught in a rip. This is becoming an increasingly common act and while it’s a commendable one and can work, it’s also very dangerous as even more people are potentially putting themselves at risk and recently a woman drowned while attempting to save a swimmer in the US when the human chain broke.

Beachgoers form human chain to help struggling swimmers in Panama City Beach, Fla. Check out the story here.