Beach-goers may have been wondering about the shocking pink buoys tied to poles at some beaches.
Part of the efforts by the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) to save lives, the Pink Rescue Buoys project was started in late 2017 and to date these buoys have helped save 177 lives at beaches across the country.
More than 1800 of these bright pink emergency flotation devices have been sponsored by individuals and companies and placed strategically around the coastline and at some inland rivers and dams. Spokesperson for the NSRI, Craig Lambinon said the buoys are designed to provide emergency flotation for those in difficulty in the water and floatation for a rescuer who goes in to help.
“We are constantly identifying additional sites where they can be placed in cooperation with municipal authorities. The Pink Rescue Buoys have caught the imagination of communities as the word spreads that they successfully saved lives. Volunteers, within these communities, look after the Pink Buoys and make sure that they are always ready to be used and we appeal to the public to assist to identify any faults or missing buoys,” said Mr Lambinon.
He added that it was unfortunate that they have had a few of the pink buoys stolen over this holiday season.
“If you see a pole that is missing a pink buoy, please call the cell number on the pole to let us know so that we can replace it. If you see someone with a pink buoy and they do not have NSRI identification, it has probably been stolen from a pole. Please ask the person who has it to return it to the pole that they removed it from or call NSRI so that we can recover the buoy and relocate the buoy to its pole,” said Mr Lambinon.
To date all water rescues have been successful, and no harm has come to any of the rescuers who have used an NSRI pink rescue buoy to help someone in distress and in danger of drowning, added Mr Lambinon.
