TWO Byron Bay surf lifesavers have been honoured with a St John’s Community Outstanding Clinical Care Award for their role in saving a tourist’s life at Belongil Beach last year.<\/p>\n
Michael Berti and Michael Gudgeon resuscitated a 59-year-old New Zealand man who had been tipped by a wave, knocked unconscious and gone into cardiac arrest last April.<\/p>\n
The pair had been at the surf club preparing for their beach patrol shift when a member of the public reported an incident at The Wreck.<\/p>\n
They jumped on the ATV and headed straight to the scene.<\/p>\n
When they arrived, a coach from a local surf school was already performing compressions.<\/p>\n
The lifesavers immediately joined in, using their equipment to assist.<\/p>\n
After the man regained vital signs, they continued to monitor and care for him until paramedics arrived.<\/p>\n
He was later airlifted to Gold Coast University Hospital and eventually returned home to Queenstown with his family.<\/p>\n
The two lifesavers were nominated for the award by officers from the Tweed-Byron Police District, who had also been on scene and worked alongside them during the rescue.<\/p>\n
Gudgeon, 65, said he would never forget the gratitude and joy shown by the patient’s partner but felt humbled by the award recognition.<\/p>\n
“There are many amazing club members that have done rescues and preventatives over the years,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Ray White real estate agent joined the club around 20 years ago when his daughter started nippers.<\/p>\n
He earned his Bronze Medallion before beginning patrols.<\/p>\n
He said the rescue was just one of around 50 call-outs initiated by Triple Zero last year.<\/p>\n
“A lot of the work the Byron Bay Surf Club does slips under the radar,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The best result is getting to someone before they need first aid. Our patrols consistently perform preventatives, rescues and first aid.<\/p>\n
Junior members saved a person drowning around four weeks ago.”<\/p>\n
Gudgeon said effective and timely CPR saves lives.<\/p>\n
“The more people that learn it the better,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We had an incident a few years back where two of my patrol members successfully performed CPR on an unconscious person in a rescue boat.”<\/p>\n
Venezuelan-born Berti, 50, also joined the club when his daughter began nippers in 2015.<\/p>\n
He now lives at the clubhouse as its caretaker.<\/p>\n
He said the award represents only a small part of the effort required behind the scenes for an incident like this to have a positive outcome.<\/p>\n
“We were the ones who happened to be there but I’m sure any other member of our club would have delivered the same high standard of care,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Countless hours of maintenance, administration and training are performed by our volunteers off the beach.”<\/p>\n
Berti said he strongly believed nippers represented the future of the club and urged families to consider signing up.<\/p>\n
“Councils and organisations looking for ways to help the community should also think about investing in their local nippers club, as it goes a long way,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TWO Byron Bay surf lifesavers have been honoured with a St John’s Community Outstanding Clinical Care Award for their role in saving a tourist’s life at Belongil Beach last year. Michael Berti and Michael Gudgeon resuscitated a 59-year-old New Zealand man who had been tipped by a wave, knocked unconscious and gone into cardiac arrest […]<\/p>\n