PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A successful rescue offshore at Nature's Valley of a mother and daughter who had been swept off their surf ski on Tuesday 24 September has again highlighted the significant role the NSRI's safety app (SafeTrx) plays in emergencies.
What could have resulted in a tragedy saw the mom and daughter saved from being swept out further into the ocean, amid high winds and treacherous sea conditions.
The determination of NSRI Plett volunteer Neal Stephenson, who launched with the group of paddlers on surf skis from Central Beach earlier, was also key to the rescue.
NSRI coxswain Ross Badenhorst, and station commander Jaco Kruger, urge everyone to download the app from the NSRI website.
"It's free. And, like the incident involving the two women in distress, it can save lives," said Kruger.
The app allows the user to enter a planned route and approximate time of arrival. Should there be a delay, or a user is late at a destination, it sends a message to the NSRI's emergency operations centre. The app also has a panic button feature that sends out a distress call with the current position.
"This is great as it narrows down your search immediately and saves valuable time," said Badenhorst.
Immediate response can sometimes be a matter of life and death.
The two women were part of a larger group of surf skiers who went out on the day but ran into trouble after experiencing rudder failure.
"Neal located the casualties adrift in the water holding onto their surfski after the initial alarm went out," said Badenhorst.
He had caught sight of the orange blip of their surfski out the corner of his eye and paddled towards them.
"Neal found them in the water, leashed to their ski, but the terrible conditions had made it difficult for them to get back into the surf ski," said Badenhorst. The women had already alerted NSRI via the panic button on the app.
"Neal confirmed help was needed as we carried on with our rescue. The app gave us the route, position and alerts to the emergency in progress, which was fantastic.
"We encourage every adventurer to use this app as it can save a life," added Badenhorst.
Due to the activation of the app, an NSRI rescue craft was launched from Plettenberg Bay and responded directly to the scene where the mom and daughter were taken onboard and their surf ski was recovered.
"They were brought safely to Nature's Valley where once safely ashore and reunited with the group of paddlers, no further assistance was required," said Badenhorst.
In case of an emergency, or for more information, please contact the Plettenberg Bay NSRI on 082 990 5975.
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