The second season of Outback Lifesavers concluded on 13 March 2022 in Wagga Wagga, after an 8-week inland waterways safety program, thanks to our passionate participants and local partners.
Royal Life Saving NSW (RLSNSW), Wagga Wagga Council and Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre joined forces to deliver the Outback Lifesavers initiative, following the success of the pilot program in 2021.
Suitable river conditions allowed all sessions to take place at Wagga Wagga beach on the Murrumbidgee River. Almost 30 eager kids with their parents joined the Sunday morning sessions with 66% of participants signing up for the first time.
Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre’s Aquatics Supervisor Taileigh King said this year offered different opportunities. “With the conditions that we had this season due to the changing river heights, it presented us with more opportunities to teach them about these important water safety skills. Rivers present a number of challenges and educating our younger community members is one way to enhance water safety.”
“This ranged from life jackets sequences, using rescue boards skills and first aid and resuscitation skills, to teaching them about how to detect hazards in the water and how fast the river’s flowing and its depth,” Ms. King said.
RLSNSW Lifesaving Coordinator, Georgina Ryan, attended the last day certificate ceremony and was humbled to hear the distance some parents travelled to join the program. “We had dedicated parents who travelled from as far as Tumut, over an hour away, to bring their kids to the program which shows us how important it is to keep these programs running in regional and remote areas,” Ms. Ryan said.
Thank you for running this program in regional areas! It's so important, [My son] had so much fun and has been discussing the river conditions every time we walk near it – Parent participant
A huge thank you and shout out to our committed volunteers who helped ensure the safety and well-being of all our participants!
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