Notices
Earlier today at 11:32 medically qualified squad members from Coastal Water Rescue who were in the vicinity of Kings Beach were activated to respond, following reports of a near drowning. The casualty was out of the water but reported that CPR was in progress.
On arrival CWR members found the patient in the care of the lifeguards and was responsive. The EMS AMS medical chopper responded, and a safe landing zone was prepared for the chopper to land.
CWR members together with the Relay EMS Paramedic provided further care and the patient was handed over to Metro EMS and AMS helicopter crew and transported to hospital for further evaluation.
Coastal Water Rescue is staffed by volunteers and funded by donations. Can you help us? Please visit https://www.cwrescue.co.za/support-us for more info.
Today at 13:24, while responding to an incident at Smelly Creek, a second call was received from Gardmed reporting a drowning in progress at Maitlands Beach. Some squad members were redirected to Maitlands instead of continuing to Smelly Creek.
Before their arrival, an update indicated that a casualty had been pulled from the water and CPR was in progress. However, beachgoers reported that there were three casualties involved, with only one retrieved from the water. Sadly, the CPR efforts were unsuccessful.
The team immediately initiated a water search in the area indicated, with assistance from the Beach Office's jetski, which was also conducting a search. After approximately 30 minutes, the water search was called off, and the squad shifted to a shallower shoreline search of the area and its surroundings. At this time, no eyewitnesses could be located, and no one on the scene could confirm whether additional casualties were unaccounted for.
RelayEMS, SAPS, the SAPS Dive Unit, Metro EMS Rescue, and the Metro EMS Chopper responded to the incident.
Coastal Water Rescue is staffed by volunteers and funded by donations. Can you help us? Please visit https://www.cwrescue.co.za/support-us for more info.
On 25 Dec 2024 the Coastal Water Rescue squad was activated to respond to the Swartkops river following reports of a possible drowning. The information received was that 3 children went to swim in the river, and one got into difficulty in the water and did not come out.
A water search was done by members from Coastal Water Rescue, BWBSLC and NSRI Station 6. After about one hour in the water, the search was called off and handed over to the SAPS.
The SAPS Dive Unit continued with an underwater search later in the afternoon and recovered the body of the casualty.
The CWR squad was activated on Tuesday 29 Oct 2024 at 07:20 following reports of a vehicle that had gone into the water at Flatrocks.
On arrival, the vehicle was located on the rocks at the surfs edge.
The driver was standing outside of the vehicle. The CWR paramedic assessed the driver for injuries, who was transported to the hospital by Metro EMS.
A stand down was issued to the squad.
The CWR was activated for a 3rd time on 29 Oct 2024 at 23:46 following reports of a possibly missing delivery motorcycle rider.
According to the information received, the rider left a pizza franchise outlet around 16:30 en route to Lorraine, but he never made it to Lorraine.
According to the franchise's tracking application, the rider's phone's last ping point was in the 3rd Avenue dip; it is assumed the rider attempted to cross the flooding Baakens River with his delivery motorcycle.
Squad members met with SAPS divers and did an initial search from the banks of the immediate area and a bit further downstream from the crossing. Due to the conditions, fast-flowing water, and a lot of debris in the water, the squad was not able to perform a water search at the time.
The search was called off at about 01:30, and the SAPS divers would take over and do a water search in the morning.
The CWR squad had a second activation at 14:18 on Tuesday, 29 Oct 2024, following a report of a child that had been swept away in Booysens Park after an attempted crossing of the flooding river.
The CWR members on scene found that the SAPS S&R unit was already on scene and had located the body of the casualty downstream from where the incident occurred, and a standdown was issued as no further assistance could be offered.
The CWR squad was activated to respond to the Noordhoek area at 01:18 on Monday, September 2, 2024, following reports of a RIB that had overturned and that there were two casualties in the water. The other five casualties were picked up out of the water by the Dark Water Ops craft and Rescue 6A from NSRI Station 6. At the time, it was not known if the remaining two casualties had made it safely to shore.
CWR squad members conducted an extensive search of the shoreline, but the rocky terrain and incoming tide made search efforts very difficult. The search was called off after two hours.
