Noosa Coast Guard has been able to train a group of new recruits to operate an inflatable life raft, a requirement of their accreditation, thanks to a $5000 donation from Bendigo Bank enabling the purchase and repacking of a reusable demo model life raft.
Flotilla training officer Phil Gallagher said it was only in a “worst case scenario“ and one not to date faced by the local Coast Guard to abandon their rescue vessels but the shipboard safety procedure was an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) requirement of staff training.
The compact, eight-man life raft was deployed and inflated in a couple of minutes with the help of Coast Guard veterans on Sunday while new volunteers were taught how to operate and manoeuvre the vessel.
Bendigo Bank Tewantin-Noosa branch manager Mark Gielis said the bank was happy to support the voluntary service that received little government support and relied mostly on donations.
“They exist as a community service to help people in distress in the water,“ he said.
“We’ve been supplying them for a good number of years. They wouldn’t have been able to do the training if they didn’t have a demo life raft.
“One of the things for us is sponsoring a lot of organisations. We try to find ones that have an enduring impact. This is a very solid community endeavour we should support.“
Noosa Coast Guard commander Ian Hutchins said they were grateful to Bendigo Bank for sponsoring them and to Servitec: survival technology company that went out of its way to deliver the life raft in time for training.
With the Coast Guard in operation 24 hours a day and their busiest time of year during the summer holidays just around the corner, they welcomed the new team of volunteers.
