18 cases in one day for Patong’s lifeguards in Phuket
PHOTOS: Patong Surf Life Saving
Busy day for Phuket’s local lifeguards as they saved 17 people from the waves off Patong, and one one the Beach Road.
Yesterday (August 27), Patong Lifeguards reported that there were a total of 18 people rescued, all in a day’s work at Patong beach. They said the situation was very challenging, with limited manpower, equipment and poor weather conditions hampering their efforts.
“The main goal was to save every person’s life by using our team working skills”.
The cases included one middle eastern tourist, one Thai girl, four Chinese tourists and eleven Europeans. All of them were saved without having to send any of them to the hospital. There was also a case just behind the beach when a European tourist had an accident on the beach road. The teams provided first aid and called the Kudoldham rescue team to transport the victim to the Patong hospital.
Daren Jenner, spokesperson for the International Surf Lifesaving Association SE Asia, says that prolonged winds from the southwest monsoon created dangerous conditions over a wide area of coastline from Satun in the south to Ranong in the north.
“The dangerous conditions span nearly 300km, the entire length of Thailand’s west coast.”
These conditions are predicted to worsen through the weekend.”
“The International Surf Lifesaving Association wishes to stress that posting red flags alone is not enough to keep beachgoers safe from the current conditions. Trained and tested ocean lifeguards are needed to prevent unnecessary drownings.”
SOURCE: Patong Surf Life Saving
