NEWS / 31 AUGUST 2023

Pink Rescue Buoys make waves in New Zealand

An innovative initiative by the NSRI is being adopted in other countries – and is getting results!

Since the NSRI launched its Pink Rescue Buoy programme in 2017, more than 1600 highly visible, bright Pink Rescue Buoys have been strategically placed on signs at selected inland rivers, dams and beaches across the country, facilitating 157 recorded rescues by both trained rescue crew and members of the public.

One of the first of its kind in the world, this pioneering project has since been adopted in New Zealand, which identified a need for public rescue equipment and signage earlier this year after a father tragically drowned while attempting to rescue his daughter, who survived. Had he had access to a Pink Rescue Buoy, they may have both survived.

It’s for this reason that the NSRI celebrates the recent reports of a dramatic rescue involving two teenagers at Marine Parade beachfront in Hawks Bay, Napier, New Zealand.

On the afternoon of Wednesday 26 July, reports came in to rescue services of two 19-year-old teenagers, a young man and a woman, who had got into difficulty in the water less than 200 metres from the viewing platform on the beach. The man managed to reach the shore, while the woman was attended to by two police officers – one a lifeguard – who used a flotation device (Pink Buoy) kept at the beach to keep her afloat while awaiting the arrival of the helicopter to lift her from the sea.

The fully clothed young woman was eventually winched from the sea by a rescue helicopter, and both her and the young man were taken to hospital. Thankfully, they were both discharged later the same day.

Hawke’s Bay has one of the highest drowning rates in New Zealand, and a number of these are bystanders who attempt to rescue people who find themselves in difficulty in the water. It is hoped that Pink Buoys stationed there will reduce the number of drownings, allowing members of the public to provide aid to a person in trouble using the rescue buoys. So far, judging by the recently reported rescue, the strategy appears to be working.

“I was absolutely thrilled to hear that our Pink Buoys have saved a life in New Zealand,” says NSRI Drowning Prevention Manager, Andrew Ingram. “We have been working with Surf Life Saving New Zealand, sharing information and experience, for a couple of years now. After sending them two batches of Pink Buoys, which were used in various trials, they have developed a national standard for the rescue buoy and signage, and will soon be making their own version. With a country like New Zealand, which is highly regarded in Surf Life Saving, throwing their weight behind public rescue equipment, I am sure that so many more lives will be saved.”