CAPE TOWN – Strandfontein lifesavers were again the first responders on scene at an accident at the weekend.
On Saturday 21 February, lifeguards on duty at Strandfontein Pavilion were alerted to an accident on Baden Powell Drive, between Strandfontein and Sunrise Circle, at about 10:00.
Lifeguards Saadiq Parker, Joshua le Roux and Joshua McKay responded immediately, Strandfontein Surf and Lifesaving Club (SSLC) said in a statement.
Parker said the members of the public had alerted them to the accident.
“We were given a lift by one of our club members who is part of the Haven Night Shelter,” he said.
Two car collision
On arrival they found that two vehicles had collided and six people had sustained injuries ranging from minor cuts to suspected spinal injuries and multiple fractures, including two serious leg fractures.
The lifeguards, with the assistance of a hiking group and passersby from an animal welfare shelter, who had already started administering first aid, stabilised the injured.
“Bleeding was controlled, fractures immobilised, and spinal precautions maintained until the arrival of emergency services,” the SSLC said. “We are proud of the calm, professional response displayed by all involved. Teamwork and swift action once again made a critical difference,” the club said.
Parker adds that on the scene the first aiders found that two of the passengers had been flung from the vehicles. One of these passengers complained of pain in his pelvis.
“We stopped his bleeding and calmed him down,” Parker said.
He adds Le Roux assisted the other passenger that had been flung from the vehicle, while McKay helped a woman and man who were stuck in the back of the vehicle.
“We stopped the bleeding from the fractures, reassured the patients and calmed them down,” Parker said.
Rescue services
According to the statement, fire and rescue personnel from Ottery arrived on the scene shortly afterward, but the City was unable to confirm this by the time of going to press.
Parker says that fire and rescue services arrived about 15 minutes after the accident occured and freed the people who were still lodged inside the car.
Once the scene was cleared, Parker says the lifeguards thanked the other first aiders and resumed their duties at the Pavillion.
This is the second time this year that the lifeguards were the first responders on scene at an accident along the beach road. Last month the lifeguards also assisted at a head-on collision on the corner of Baden Powell and Spine road which claimed the life of one man on 27 January.
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