Torrevieja’s Councillor for Emergencies, Federico Alarcón, was on hand on Monday to see an emergency drill carried out on La Mata Beach, during which a surfer lost consciousness in the water after being struck by his board.
The accident was first attended by a lifeguard who was patrolling in front of the Pura Vida beach bar. After quickly assessing the situation the lifeguard activated the protocol established by UTE SALVAMAR.
The accident was some distance from the shore, beyond the buoy line, so the rescue had to be carried out with a jet ski that is based on La Mata beach. The craft, with skipper, lifeguard and towed stretcher, moved from its base to the scene of the accident while on shore lifeguards assembled necessary equipment, including semi-automatic defibrillator, oxygen and first aid kit.
Simultaneously the coordinator of UTE SALVAMAR notified the emergency health services.
After pulling the victim from the water and assessing his condition, it was found that he had suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest. The rescue personnel then assemble the oxygen kit and the defibrillator and activated the CPR protocol.
On their arrival with the ambulance, the health services from UTE SALVAMAR took over the resuscitation tasks from the lifeguards.
After about 10 minutes of rescussitation the victim was stabilised and transferred to the University Hospital of Torrevieja.
Local Police officers, alerted by 112 CV, also made an appearance where they maintained a cordon around the victim and emergency services whilst the surfer was being treated, until his removal to the Torrevieja Hospital. “
