Council administrator fails to follow own safety advice

I note with interest the Central Coast Council Administrator, Mr Ian Reynolds', column in the Express Advocate of September 30 in which he said: "Beach safety should be at the forefront of our minds as we move into the swimming season".

It is at the forefront in the minds of many at Pearl Beach, particularly the impediments placed in the way of improved safety by Central Coast Council.

I note that the Council has failed to respond to the report of the Coroner on the drowning of Chayce Kelly.

It has refused permission for the Pearl Beach Progress Association, at its expense, to establish a defibrillator unit on the foreshore.

It has failed to reply to a June 20 letter appealing against the decision of Council not to allow the Pearl Beach Progress Association, again at its expense, to place rescue tubes and resuscitation charts on the beach and near the rock pool.

And it has not responded to repeated requests to meet with Mr Reynolds to discuss the matter.

I regret that I have felt the need to write this as an open letter but I feel that the lack of response to the issues of beach safety has left me with no alternative.

I trust that my file which evidences unreasonable impediments to improving beach safety at Pearl Beach never has to be tendered to the Coroner as evidence at some time in the future.

Support for a defibrillator on the beach foreshore has come from Lucy Wicks MP through a grant of $8250 under the Stronger Communities Program for a cabinet to house the defibrillator.

Lucy's support for defibrillators has been well known and her efforts have drawn strong praise from the Pearl Beach Progress Association.

Council's decision in relation to our defibrillator does not take cognisance of the current state of defibrillator technology.

They are specifically designed for public access and to be used by untrained people.

The embedded system avoids misuse and danger to operators.

Defibrillators are being rolled out in public reserves around Australia.

Defibrillators are not based on only being used by trained operators.

The Pearl Beach Progress Association unit currently in the cafe is issued to anybody requiring it.

Its use is not limited to a time when a trained operator is available.

Its use is, however, limited by the short opening hours of the Cafe.

We want the community to have the capacity to save a life at any time of the day.

The approach adopted by my association is based on the advice of a team of medical, rescue and lifesaving professionals.

Medical specialists were the major donors to our appeal as they understand how the availability of a defibrillator can save lives.

Similarly our lifesaving experts have recommended the availability of rescue tubes.

A view has even been expressed that had such a unit been available it may have made a difference in the attempts to rescue Chayce Kelly.

The simple fact is that by not making a defibrillator publicly available, when we have medical advice and the capacity to do so, puts lives at risk.

I again ask that the matter of beach safety be considered in the light of the above information and the extent of defibrillator and rescue equipment installation around Australia.

Letter, 6 Oct 2016

Ross Christie, Pearl Beach Progress Association