Notices

The CWR squad was activated at 12:21 on 23 Oct 2021 following reports of a drowning in progress at Sardinia Bay.

On arrival it was found that a large group of students were on the beach, one of them went into the water to go and swim but got into trouble. A second student entered the water to assist but unfortunately also got into trouble in the rough sea conditions.

Bystanders managed to assist the first student out of the water but she was unresponsive and the alarm was raised for assistance. Gardmed was on scene and initiated CPR which was unfortunately not successful.

Rescue swimmers from Coastal Water Rescue and Sea Rescue Port Elizabeth did a thorough water search followed by a shore search without any success.

The student who went to assist is still missing and presumed drowned.

Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, NSRI Station 6, SAPS Divers, SAPS Sector Vehicle, Beach Office, EMS, Fire, Gardmed, Relay.

On Friday 24 September the CWR squad received a call from a concerned person saying that they heard somebody calling for help from the Swartkops River Mouth. We immediately contacted BWBLSC Rescue who was also aware of this. The Water Emergency Response Committee was notified at the same time.

The CWR squad was activated to respond to the river mouth. On arrival, one person was found stuck on one of the pylons and additional information that there were three people and a small dinghy had capsized and one person had been swept out to sea.

BWBLSC launched their inflatable boat and with a CWR member as a crewman they went to retrieve the person still on the pylon. It was then established that there were three people on the pylon, two of them wanted to return to shore with the dinghy but just after setting off they capsized due to the wake caused by two large rubber ducks moving towards the mouth at speed.

The one casualty managed to make it to shore, but the other, who was stuck in the fast-flowing channel was being swept out to sea.

A shore search was initiated between BWB Rescue and CWR members, and NSRI's assistance was requested.

NSRI launched their brand new Rescue 6A craft from the harbour and also responded via road. On Rescue 6A's arrival they started a search pattern as close to shore as they could, and within 5 minutes of starting the search they came across the casualty in the water. She was severely hyperthermic and Rescue 6A returned to their harbour base at speed where she was handed over to EMS for further treatment.

Services on Scene: Coastal Water Rescue, BWBLSC, BWB Rescue, SAPS Dive Unit, SAPS Sector Vehicle, Beach Office, NSRI

The casualty (12 years old) was part of a group of friends who swam on the side of the pier when he got into trouble, this was noticed by the fishermen on the pier who called it in.

The Beach Office deployed swimmers to the scene which was approximately 200m from the parking lot, the casualty at this time had spent at least 30 minutes in the water and reports were received that he was getting visibly tired. The Beach Office swimmers successfully reached the casualty and assisted him back to shore where he was handed over to EMS for monitoring. Well done to the Beach Office crew!

In the interim CWR swimmers had arrived, they were sent to assist but stood down before entering the water as there was no further assistance required. 

Services on scene: CWR, Beach Office, EMS Ambulance, EMS Rescue, Fire Department, SAPS Dive Unit, SAPS Flying Squad, NMB Traffic Department. 

The CWR squad was activated at 13:25 today following reports of a drowning in progress at Maitlands Beach. On arrival, it was established that a single person got into trouble while swimming, and a friend of his went into the water to help him but subsequently also got into trouble.

The alarm was raised by bystanders who reported that two people were in trouble and being pulled out to sea.
CWR rescue swimmers were deployed into the water, and the Beach Office launched their jetski to assist with the search. Both casualties were recovered but they were both unfortunately declared deceased.

Services on Scene: CWR, Beach Office, SAPS, SAPS Divers, EMS, EMS/AMS Chopper, NSRI