Establishing Coastal Lifeguard Services in Pakistan

Jonathon Webber RN BHSc DipMgt CertAmb
Senior Advisor (Lifesaving)
Pakistan Aquatic Life Saving | PALS Lifeguards
Establishment of Coastal Lifeguard Services in Pakistan: THE PALS EXPERIENCE

Acknowledgements

Demographics
Coastline and Beaches
Profile and History
Service Overview
Achievements
Future Plans
Presentation Content

Pakistan

Karachi: The home of PALS
Largest city in Pakistan
Sixth most populous city in the world
Population estimated >15,000,000
Over 2,000,000 visitors; 40km of coastline

Coastline and Beaches

Global Burden of Drowning
WHO estimate over 97% of unintentional drownings occur in low to middle income countries
The actual burden of fatal and non-fatal drowning is unknown, due to inaccurate data collection

Local Burden of Drowning
OVER 250 PEOPLE DROWNED ON KARACHI BEACHES EVERY YEAR PRIOR TO JUNE 2004

Organisation Profile
PALS is a division of Critical Mass Social Welfare Organisation; a registered NGO
Formed in 2003 with the intent of:
Achieving a near-zero drowning rate, and
Alleviating poverty in coastal communities
Currently employs 150 full and part-time professional lifeguards
Funded entirely from sponsorship and donations

Structure of PALS

Partners
Pakistan Navy
CDGK: City District Government Karachi
Surf Life Saving
Northern Region (New Zealand)

History of PALS

150 Surf Lifeguard Awards and Surf Life Saving Certificates 56 SURF LIFEGUARD AWARDS, PLUS 45 SURF LIFE SAVING CERTIFICATES

Service Overview
Patrol Sunday (some beaches 7-day service)
Patrol hours 1000 – 1945
Open-beach, flagged area and tower lifeguard systems
Roving Patrols
PALS Ambulance

Patrol Locations
20 Patrolling Areas
Each Area has 1 Supervisor and 8-15 Lifeguards
Supervisors report to 6 Patrol Captains
Rescue equipment located at all locations

Achievements 2004-2007
Operational
Community Uplift
Sponsorship
Media Awareness
Surf Sports
Disaster Relief

Lifeguard Operations Year Rescues Preventive Actions First Aids Searches 2004* 233 67,845 346 20 2005 428 88,545 788 78 2006 441 93,253 682 64 TOTAL 1,102 249,643 1,816 162 Coastal Drownings (Karachi) 2004* 1 2005 13 2006 17

Public Education

Community Uplift
Regular income for 150 impoverished families
Free accident insurance
for staff
PALS Lifeguards are highly respected and valued by the community
PALS Ambulance provides prompt transport to the city

Sponsorship
No corporate culture of sponsorship in Pakistan
Fear of adverse events being linked to sponsor
Sale of naming rights to individual beaches
Grass Roots Assistance from foreign embassies
Individual donations

Media Awareness
Regular coverage in Dawn, The News, Daily Times, Business Recorder
Television documentaries by GEO TV, Business Plus
Weekly radio coverage on sea condition during the monsoon season
Membership of the Pakistan Press Foundation public safety panel

National Lifeguard Championships
Inaugural event held on 18 August 2006
70 competitors
Events contested:
Beach Flags
Beach Sprints
Surf Race
Tube Rescue

Disaster Relief
Monsoon flooding in June killed 228 people, injured 200+ and left thousands displaced or cut-off
Collapsed structures, traffic crashes and electrocution were the major cause of death and injury
PALS Lifeguards were the lead disaster relief agency in the coastal areas of Karachi

Future Plans
Introduce school-based education programmes
Establish a national drowning database
Train lifeguards for the Middle East
Expansion of services (an additional 100 staff required in 3-5yrs)
Full Membership of ILS

Assistance Required
Refresher Training
Instructor Courses
Equipment Donations:
Tubes, fins, IRB’s, VHF radios, Quad Bikes
Professional and Technical Advice
Funding Grants

www.cmpals.org

Establishing Coastal Lifeguard Services in Pakistan

by ILS - International Life Saving Federation

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

2 Embeds 27

Statistics

Establishing Coastal Lifeguard Services in Pakistan Presentation Transcript

http://www.ilsf.org	25
http://ilsf.org	2