Notices
The CWR squad was activated to respond to Schoenmakerskop on Sunday, December 24, 2023, following reports of a drowning that occurred during the night. It was reported that a diver had gone missing and was presumed to have drowned.
CWR squad members responded to the location, where they met with SAPS Search & Rescue, SAPS Dive Unit and the SAPS Sector Vehicle, who had sighted the casualty earlier.
After searching for over an hour, the search was called off.
Later in the day, further reports indicated that a body had been spotted in the ocean, approximately 200-300 meters from the shore. Squad members responded to the location, confirmed the sighting, and relayed the information back to SAPS S&R.
NSRI Station 6 launched the vessel Rescue 6C from the Noordhoek base, and in collaboration with SAPS S&R, proceeded to the location just off Noordhoek to recover the body of the missing diver.
The CWR squad was activated this morning at 07:31 following reports of a paddler in distress off Schoenies on the Wildside. The paddler had come off his surf ski and was holding on to the surf ski of his paddling partner. The sea conditions were calm, but the strong currents and wind made them drift out to sea.
Due to the time the casualty spent in the cold water, there was no safe way of bringing him back to shore, and swimmers were not sent into the water. At this stage, the paddler and casualty were about 300m offshore.
NSRI Rescue 6C launched at Noordhoek and made its way to Schoenies, where it picked up the paddler at about 08:08, with the second paddler making his way to shore. CWR swimmers were standing by to assist the second paddler with the shore entry.
Rescue 6C returned to Noordhoek with the casualty, where the Gardmed Ambulance Services crew waited.
Today at 11:32 the CWR squad was activated to respond to the Sacramento Trail in Schoenmakerskop following reports of a missing 4 year old boy on the trail, his direction of travel was not known, nor if he had gone towards the water.
14 Coastal Water Rescue members responded from all over town; when the first members arrived on scene they started collecting information, then headed onto the trail to start assisting with the search, leaving members behind at the Sacramento Trail entrance.
A while into the search, somebody relayed information that the child had been found, but nobody was able to verify this, and it was decided to continue with the search. The CWR members were split between the top and bottom trails, with everybody in constant radio contact.
Crew from NSRI Station 6 assisted with the search and split their resources between the Sacrament Trail side and others starting from the Sardinia Bay side.
More information was received by the SAPS that the child was found alone on the trail. A SAPS K9 member was sent to investigate and confirmed that it was the missing child, reunited the child with his mother, and returned them to Schoenmakerskop, where the child was given the all clear by EMS.
Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, NSRI Station 6, Walmer SAPS, SAPS Flying Squad, SAPS Divers, EMS Rescue, EMS Chopper, Afriforum Sherwood NHW, Darkwater Ops
This afternoon, 19 Sep 2023 the Coastal Water Rescue squad was activated at 16:50 following a report of a swimmer in trouble in the water opposite Willows Holiday Resort.
The CWR squad on arrival, quickly had a sighting of the swimmer in the water who was located in the backline of the breakers. Whilst the swimmer was buoyant and had been initially snorkeling, he was signaling distress to bystanders on the shoreline. Whilst CWR swimmers prepared to enter the water, a fishing vessel called Mia Barka, who was positioned in the area, was called on the marine channel for assistance. Mia Barka immediately changed heading towards Willows.
Communication with the vessel was handed over to the NSRI crew on scene, who directed the vessel as close to the swimmer as possible. The fishing vessel successfully rescued the swimmer from the water. At this point, the casualty was roughly 500m offshore.
NSRI craft responded from Noordhoek Skiboat Club, met up with Mia Barka opposite Willows Resorts, transferred the swimmer onto their craft, and returned to Noordhoek Ski Boat Club
The casualty was in good spirits and returned to Willows Holiday Resort for a well-deserved rest.
Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, NSRI Station 6, Gardmed, Darkwater Ops.
On Saturday, 16th Sep 2023, CWR was activated at 08h15 to a report of a 9-year-old child stuck in the middle of a dam in Struanway, New Brighton.
On arrival, CWR members received conflicting information from the public, so they immediately initiated a search of the area surrounding the waters edge. An adult male was found semi conscious in the mud 20mtrs from the waters edge.
CWR members extracted him to the side, and the patient whilst being assessed was wrapped in an emergency blanket for warmth.
Patient care was handed over to Metro EMS, who continued the treatment. Unfortunately, the casualty became unresponsive and stopped breathing.
CPR was immediately started with the assistance of Beach Office and CWR.
The CPR continued until the casualty was loaded into the ambulance.
Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, EMS, Beach Office, SAPS Sector Vehicle
On Sunday 03 Sep 2023 the CWR squad was activated following reports of a motor vehicle accident on the M19, where the vehicle left the road and was in the river.
On arrival it was established that the vehicle was in very shallow water, crews from the Fire Department, EMS and Gardmed were already busy with a casualty in the vehicle and that no swimmer assistance was required.
A stand down was issued to the squad, and the members already on the scene assisted with lifting the casualty from the vehicle on a rescue board.
On Tuesday 01 Aug 2023, CWR was activated at 21h17 following reports of a possible suicide in progress at the Shark Rock Pier, Hobie Beach. Bystanders on the Pier had observed an adult male jumping off.
On arrival, it was confirmed that an adult male had jumped off the end of the pier and was last seen floating away in the direction of the harbour.
A visual search from the Pier was started with the aide of spotlights and supported by CWR members who had entered the water to conduct a water search. Due to reduced visibility in the water, CWR members subsequently moved their search to the shoreline.
NSRI Station 6 launched Rescue 6A from the harbour and started an extensive grid search of the area.
The search was called off after 11pm.
Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, NSRI Station 6, SAPS Divers, SAPS Humewood, Metro Police
On Friday 02 June 2023, the CWR squad was activated by the Water Emergency Rescue Committee to a drowning in progress at Maitlands Beach.
Employees of a local nursery went for an outing to Maitlands beach, where one employee decided to enter the sea for a swim. He disappeared shortly after, presumed to have been caught in a rip current and swept out to sea.
Multiple water rescue services were activated. The different services provided a coordinated, extensive search of the area. CWR members undertake a shoreline search, the EMS Provincial Helicopter (MW7) provided an aerial search, the municipal Beach Office deployed rescue swimmers to search the surf zone and NSRI Station 6 deployed their jetrib for a sea search.
The search was called off after more than an hour on scene with no sight of the missing employee.
Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, NSRI Station 6, EMS, EMS Helicopter, Beach Office, Fire & Emergency NMB.
