The Bethells Beach Surf Life Saving Patrol Search & Rescue squad last night performed a daring rescue at last light after a swimmer was swept out to sea in a rip.

The incident, which occurred at Bethells Beach in the early evening of Friday 8 November, was reported to police via 111, with the Police Eagle helicopter and Surf Life Saving New Zealand responding.

Four teenagers, one male and three female, had been swimming at the unpatrolled beach on an outgoing tide. Strong currents pulled them off a sand bank and were sucked out to sea.

Three were able to self-rescue, but one remained caught in the rip and was being swept out to sea. Once of the swimmers requested a bystander call 111.

The call came in at approximately 8:20pm, with a notification of one person in distress on the main beach at Bethells Beach, and the Bethells Beach Surf Search & Rescue squad was activated with urgency.

At the same time, the Police Eagle helicopter had been activated and had arrived at the scene, dropping a flotation device to the struggling swimmer. The swimmer―a 17-year-old girl in serious distress―managed to grab hold of the flotation device, while the Pollice Eagle helicopter kept its spotlight on her.

Unlike the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, which was on standby but 30 minutes away, the Police Eagle has no rescue swimmer capability.

In the meantime, two members of the Bethells Beach Surf Search & Rescue squad had arrived at the clubrooms and set up an Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB). Three other surf lifeguards arrived soon after and set up a second IRB.

General advice is that surf lifeguards do not enter the surf more than 30 minutes before sunset. By the time surf lifeguards arrived on the scene, it was already more than 30 minutes after sunset (8:03 pm), with the light already low and fading fast.

Bethells Beach Surf Life Saving Patrol Vice President and SAR squad member Dan Harvey, who is also the local duty officer, was part of the response.

“It was serendipitous that just one week earlier we had performed a low light search and rescue scenario on this these conditions, so our squad was primed and had the confidence to perform what was really a textbook response,” he says.

The surf lifeguards completed the 800m drive from the club to the low tide mark, completed a dynamic risk assessment, and launched the IRB, with the Police Eagle helicopter lighting their way.

They completed the IRB rescue, retrieving the young girl and returning her to the beach. She had swallowed water and was already becoming hypothermic, but otherwise unharmed. Surf lifeguards returned her to the club, where two off duty paramedics checked her vitals, placed in a shower and warmed her up.

Police arrived at the scene and the patient was discharged to go to A&E with friends.

“It was pretty seamless, you can’t get much better in terms of rescue,” says Dan Harvey. But without the police flotation device being dropped it would be a completely different scenario―the girl would likely have drowned. Even with it, she was in serious trouble, given she was already hypothermic by the time we reached her.”

“This year the conditions at Bethells Beach are likely to result in a significant number of rescues. We have a large hole in the front of the beach, right in front of the lifeguard tower, which is creating a powerful rip on an outgoing tide. People need to be aware of the conditions.”

Surf Life Saving Northern Operations Manager James Lea says that no one should be entering the water at a surf beach in such a scenario.

“We strongly recommend people exercise common sense. That means always swimming between the flags. If a beach is unpatrolled, or patrol has finished for the day, don’t risk your life by entering the water,” he says.

“The person in this situation was incredibly lucky that the Bethells Beach Surf Search & Rescue squad and Police were able to respond so quickly. They did do the right thing by calling 111, however the situation could easily have been tragic for everyone involved.”

This year, Bethells Beach Surf Life Saving Patrol will be running the Bethells Evening Summer Trial (BEST) on a Saturday and Sunday, with three senior surf lifeguards observing the beach at the conclusion of patrol until 8pm and providing advice to beachgoers and performing rescues if required. BEST will commence after Christmas and run through peak season weekends until the weekend after Waitangi weekend.