Public Safety Standard Operating Procedures

PSS 9.1 Surf Emergency Response System

Purpose

To outline the Surf Emergency Response System within NSW with the aim to:

  • Save lives;
  • Improve casualty survival rates;
  • Reduce the response time of lifesaving and other rescue services to casualties;
  • Maximise the quality of a coordinated emergency response system;
  • Provide clarification on the most appropriate resources to utilise; and
  • Reduce the risk to responding personnel.

Policy

Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) requires personnel to follow the provided guidelines to ensure the effectiveness of the Surf Emergency Response System as the notification/tasking process for emergency services to contact and activate lifesaving services in NSW.

Definition

An emergency response is a response to a request for assistance from any of the following agencies/organisations:

  • Emergency Services (Police, Fire, Ambulance)
  • NSW State Emergency Service (SES)
  • Marine Rescue NSW
  • Lifesaving Services (Australian Lifeguard Service, Council Lifeguards, Surf Life Saving Clubs (patrols), SLS Support Operations etc)
  • NSW Maritime
  • National Parks and Wildlife Service Rangers

Background

The nature of emergency response often results in a situation where:

  • Incident is at an unpatrolled location/time.
  • There is limited information – unknown circumstances/details available.
  • Patients are in the mid-latter stages of the drowning cycle.
  • Response time is critical to the casualty’s survival/recovery.

Procedure

Combat Agencies Requiring Assistance

  1. The SLSNSW administered Surf Emergency Response System shall be the process for upward notification of locally identified or notified major incidents from lifesaving services (either directly outside SurfCom hours, or via SurfCom).
    1. Internal notifications, i.e., those from lifesaving services still filter into the Surf Emergency Response System
      1. During the SLSNSW State Operations Centre (SOC) standard operating hours, initial notification from SLS volunteers, ALS Lifeguards, Council Lifeguards and SLS Life Saver helicopters should be made to Surfcom via radio (primary) or telephone (secondary)
    2. Outside of the SOC standard operating hours initial notification should be made by dialling 000 and requesting Police (the combat agency for aquatic events, Marine search and rescue inclusive of underwater and inland waterway searches).
    3. Subsequent updates and intel from lifesaving services should be communicated to the SLSNSW rostered State Duty Officer on (02) 9471 8091 (monitored 24/7).
  2. No lifesaving service shall implement duplicate/contrary systems which do or may undermine the Surf Emergency Response System at local/regional/state level. Regardless of the origin of the request for assistance or agencies involved, the Surf Life Saving Surf Emergency Response System (coordinated by the State Duty Officer) shall utilise the nearest/most` appropriate resource from any agency/organisation for assistance to ensure the quickest response time. The integrity of the State Duty Officer (on-duty) shall be maintained at all times. No other person shall assume the role, function, authority or call-sign of the on-duty State Duty Officer, unless delegated to by that person. The contact number for the Surf Emergency Response System shall not be communicated by any party to the public or media.

The system shall be referred to externally as the ‘Surf Emergency Response System’.

Communication and Resource Types

  1. Primary Resource Notification: The surf rescue resource which is deemed nearest/most appropriate to respond to an incident and is notified/tasked first.
  2. Secondary Resource Notification: The surf rescue resource/s which may provide value to an emergency response and is notified/tasked after the primary.
  3. Notification Only: a notification made to additional resources, including neighbouring resources, Branch or State Executive where a response from these parties is not necessary.

Control and Command

The Surf Emergency Response System is primarily responsible for disseminating emergency information to lifesaving services on behalf of the NSW Police Force (and other emergency services) and providing updated/SITREPS to those agencies as appropriate.

For a surf rescue incident NSW Police are the combat agency and have ‘control’.

For all notification and responses, the Rostered State Duty officer will have the delegated authority of Surf Life Saving NSW to act in the position of SLS Incident Controller.

Responding services are to appoint a SLS Forward Commander/Duty Officer on- scene). ALS and Council Lifeguard Services shall do likewise.

On-scene, the various incident commanders shall establish a joint incident command post, and under the control of Police establish a joint response-plan. If appropriate and agreed, a ‘forward incident commander’ may be delegated to oversee a task involving assets from multiple organisations.

The State Duty Officers who deliver the Surf Emergency Response System retains a ‘Command’ function for responding SLS/ALS services when:

  1. No local service ‘forward commander’ is available (Duty Officer/Supervisor).
  2. The local service ‘forward commander’ is delayed/some time away.
  3. Requested to take on that role by the Duty Officer/Supervisor.

Response Sequence of Actions

In alignment with ‘Search and Rescue’ best-practice, the Surf Emergency Response System has a sequence of actions that relate to each of the search and rescue stages.

These are as follows:

Awareness Stage

  1. The State Duty Officer will advise the most appropriate lifesaving services.
  2. Lifesaving services will alert their personal, and ascertain what resources are available to respond.

The State Duty Officer may disseminate information to the relevant SLS Officers and Management personnel from agencies involved with the incident to aid in enquiries from the community/media stations.

Initial Action

  1. The State Duty Officer will begin monitoring the situation.
  2. Lifesaving services will respond under their internal protocols advising the State Duty Officer of response details.
  3. The responding lifesaving service shall appoint and respond a Forward Commander (Duty Officer or Supervisor) or request ‘command’ support from their State Duty Officer – Incident Controller if not available/delayed.
  4. The ‘Forward Commander/s’ shall begin monitoring/coordinating their response.
  5. The State Duty Officer will contact other non-priority agencies for ‘notification’ as deemed appropriate.

State Duty Officer – Lifesaving Service Communication

The initial notification/tasking call from the State Duty Officer to lifesaving services shall provide any/all available information as provided by the authority/combat agency (Police/SES etc). It shall be recognised that available information initially may be limited.

The initial call from the State Duty Officer to the lifesaving service shall include:

  1. Notification of incident – including all relevant information held.
  2. Advisement of what other resources have been/are responding.
  3. Request for regional/local asset availability status. Request for any additional regional/local asset availability status.
  4. Request for SITREP via SurfCom or SLS Radio once responding.
Advisement of non-primary services/resources

Where a paid lifeguard service (Council/ALS) or SLS service may not be the “nearest/most appropriate resource” to activate as ‘first-call’ or have no on-duty/available resources to respond at all, the State Duty Officer shall still contact the lifeguard service contact/supervisor or Branch Duty Officer as soon as practical, to advise of the situation. Note: This should not be given priority over primary response coordination, however.
The State Duty Officer will make the decision when this call is to be made (i.e. during the incident for significant incidents or post incident.)

The State Duty Officer (or Surfcom) will notify additional local lifesaving resources of an ongoing incident regardless of patrol status/time of day as soon as practicable, but not at the expense of coordinating a primary incident response.

Planning

  1. The State Duty Officer (or delegate) will review existing plans (if in existence).
  2. The Incident Commander/s (Duty Officers/Supervisors) should provide SITREPS on the Initial Action Stage.
  3. The State Duty Officer (or delegate) should review SITREPS, weather reports and operational information for an action plan.
  4. The State Duty Officer (or delegate) should communicate the plan to relevant agencies.

Operations Stage

State Level

The State Duty Officer will:

  1. Assume communications control of operations (where able – i.e SOC) and monitor the situation.
  2. Advise other agencies at State level, particularly the NSW Police VKG/Marine Area Command.
  3. Assist and or provide SITREPS and assist as able with information to the Media Manager.
  4. Acquire and coordinate dissemination of information to both internal and external support resources as appropriate.
  5. Will assume the position of ‘Incident Commander’.

Regional Level

The Forward Commander/s (Duty Officers/Supervisors) will:

  1. Activate and assume ‘command’ of their lifesaving operations;
  2. Advise other agencies of their requirements for support and arrange that support and establish appropriate on-site liaison;
  3. Liaise with other agency Forward Commanders and personnel;
  4. Arrange to provide logistic/operational support for out-of-area groups; and
  5. Liaise with or act as the Incident Forward Commander (Police).
  6. Facilitate communications with on-site Rescue Helicopters.

Local Level

The Forward Commander/s (Duty Officers/Supervisors) will:

  1. Advise and establish liaison arrangements with their Incident Commander (State Duty Officer), SurfCom, other emergency services and participating organisations.
  2. Establish a joint response plan with other organisations/agencies – setting clear tasks/goals/milestones and always considering risk/safety.
  3. Commence operations.
  4. Call for assistance/support via their Forward Commander (Duty Officer/Supervisor) if required.
  5. Maintain constant communications and provide regular SITREPs to the Incident Commander (often via Surfcom).

Conclusion

  1. All responded lifesaving services shall be accounted for and stood down before the incident is declared ‘over.’
  2. The appropriate Incident Commanders and emergency services (Police VKG/MAC) shall be advised.
  3. The Forward Commander or other appropriate Officer may co-ordinate a debrief.
  4. Lifesaving Services will refuel, replenish, and undertake post operational checks.
  5. All parties will complete the necessary documentation.
  6. The State Duty Officer (or their delegate) will ensure responding members details are supplied to the SLSNSW Member Welfare team for EAP referrals and critical incident support.
Last modified: 25/07/23