Although October has been a quieter month for the Whitsundays’ Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR), the rescue operator is still exceeding last year’s record activations by 20 per cent.
Far fewer breakdowns were recorded compared to last October: VMR’s monthly total of five breakdown activations in 2021 has lessened to zero so far, but the slack has been picked up in cases of medivacs.
Compared with last year, VMR has taken to the water three times for medical evacuations, contrasting with last years figures of just once.
From 2019, activations have steadily increased on an annual basis in all facets: breakdowns and medivacs. The local VMR has even been noted as the second busiest coastal rescue service in terms of medivac in the state, only pipped by Brisbane.
Medivacs have become a large part of the volunteer services daily operations.
President of VMR Whitsunday Mal Priday said the ramping up of medivacs was obviously disconcerting, but VMR was “happy to be providing the valuable service for the community.”
“We’re coping, and we now make sure we have a dedicated skipper each night for medivac in the boat designed specifically for medical evacuations,” Mr Priday said.
The operations are performed at the request of the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).
When a triple zero call comes in, the duty QAS supervisor considers all aspects on a case-by-case basis: the seriousness of the injury or illness, whether a medivac is necessary, and whether it is best performed by helicopter or by sea.
Mr Priday said the callouts can “be at any time, day or night,” and that VMR are always accompanied by at least one and sometimes two QAS Paramedics on board when medivacs are deemed necessary.
“We have assisted about 320 people on medivacs so far this year,” Mr Priday said.
Mr Priday and other volunteers believe the increase in activations – which was at its height in September with, on average, an activation per day – is due to education around boat safety, as well as an uptick in boat usage due to the pandemic.
October may be a quieter month, but Mr Priday said the service is still averaging those September numbers of an activation per day.
VMR membership is “a cheap insurance”, costing just $80 and can be joined at https://vmrwhitsundays.com.au/join/
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