Shashikant Jadhav, a 38-year-old lifeguard and operations supervisor with Drishti Marine — a non-public company tasked by the Goa Authorities to curb incidents of drowning off the state’s seashores — remembers what impressed him to get into the occupation.
Talking to The Higher India, he recollects, “Though I’m from Raigad district, Maharashtra, I grew up in a small village in South Goa. Visiting the seaside close by, I fell in love with it and learnt tips on how to swim within the sea with my pals. However I additionally noticed many individuals drowning within the sea and that left an actual impression on me. Rising up, I needed a job the place I may save folks’s lives.”
Earlier than Drishti Marine was operational in 2008, Shashikant was a lifeguard working for an additional firm contracted by the tourism division of the Goa Authorities.
“Earlier, there was little to no coordination in rescue efforts. There have been occasions when the folks in cost didn’t even know I had swam out into the ocean to rescue somebody. We didn’t even have correct tools like a surfboard, walkie-talkie, lifeguard jeep, or jet-ski,” recollects Shashikant.
This lack of coordination, tools, and professionalism was mirrored within the lack of seaside security and the variety of drowning deaths Goa noticed. Issues got here to a head in 2007 when the state sadly noticed 200 folks drown off the shoreline, in line with information reviews.
As Rajiv Somani, founder and chairperson of Drishti Marine, notes, “Following the occasions of 2007, the State Authorities was prompted to take fast measures and put collectively an environment friendly system to safeguard lives alongside seashores. One of many measures adopted by the State Authorities was to nominate an expert company for enhancing seaside security.”
In 2008, Drishti Marine was tasked by the Goa Authorities to curb drowning incidents off the state’s seashores. As soon as it was awarded a contract to supply lifeguard companies for the state, Shashikant was among the many first lifeguards to affix it.
“After I joined Drishti in July 2008, they put me via a 45-day coaching course the place I discovered the finer particulars of lifeguarding and tips on how to use the brand new tools given to us. There was a better emphasis on security right here. In my earlier job, we might get no backup throughout rescue efforts. Now, each time we exit on a rescue, we’re supported by jet skis, backup lifeguards, and many others. Additionally, we obtain steady coaching and have reorientation classes yearly to maintain up with the most recent strategies and know-how,” says Shashikant.
Braving the waves: Goa’s Drishti Marine
The information of Drishti turning into the designated company to supply lifeguard companies additionally prompted Ashwin Ghag, a former national-level swimmer, to depart Pune for Goa in 2008.
“From 1999 to 2008, I labored as a swimming coach for youngsters in Pune, after which I labored as a senior lifeguard. Earlier than my swimming coach and lifeguard profession, I used to be a national-level swimmer. I used to be impressed by my father to change into a lifeguard. Watching him work as a lifeguard and save lives impressed me to change into one,” recollects Ashwin, a 42-year-old senior lifeguard at Drishti Marine at present posted on the favored and crowded Calangute seaside.
“Whereas I used to be working in Pune, I heard a few new firm in Goa providing lifeguarding companies and that they wanted lifeguards. Together with one other senior lifeguard from Pune, I moved to Goa. Regardless of my abilities, I had little expertise of engaged on seashores. Working as a lifeguard in swimming swimming pools, I knew tips on how to use life-saving tools. However I didn’t know tips on how to use them within the sea as a consequence of my lack of expertise working in these environment,” he provides.
The very first thing Ashwin learnt after becoming a member of Drishti was how rather more stamina a lifeguard requires to swim into a large water physique just like the Arabian Sea and rescue somebody.
“Whereas saving somebody from drowning in a swimming pool, you’re working in a confined house with 4 corners regardless of its dimension. You realize precisely the place to leap in, save the particular person and drop them off at any given fringe of the pool. Within the sea, you may solely save somebody by taking them again a method. It’s not a confined house. One other factor I learnt about have been rip currents — robust and slender currents that may pull you into the water,” says Ashwin.
In the present day, Drishti Marine is the designated first responder for any beach-related emergency, together with instances of marine strandings. Since its inception, Rajiv claims that its 450-plus robust drive of ‘lifesavers’ (lifeguards) has saved about 7,700 folks from drowning off Goa’s shoreline.
Patrolling Goa’s shores and saving lives
Seashores in Goa are divided into zones: swim areas marked by pink and yellow flags, no-swim zones by pink flags, and watersport areas by black-and-white flags. Excessive-footfall seashores have devoted lifesaver towers providing a transparent vantage level.
As Rajiv elaborates, “Swim zones are constantly monitored by lifesavers geared up with binoculars, jet skis, backbone boards, surfboards, and rescue tubes. When an individual in misery is noticed off the seaside, the on-duty lifesaver notifies different lifesavers by way of radio. The rescue crew rushes to help the particular person in misery, alerts backup to name an ambulance, and accompanies the rescued particular person to the hospital for analysis.”
“Lifesaver towers are stocked with emergency medical tools — comparable to first assist kits, backbone boards, surfboards, rescue boards, rescue tubes, handheld radio units, bag valve masks to help in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and Automated Exterior Defibrillator (A.E.D.) machines. The official seaside jeeps are on standby to move sufferers or distressed people to close by well being services or ambulances. Lifesavers are additionally educated in first assist to supply fast help throughout medical emergencies,” he provides.
“Working in Calangute seaside, I do roughly 30 rescues a month as a result of there may be at all times a big crowd current there. Rescues normally occur between an approximate vary of 30 to 50 metres into the ocean [from the shoreline]. Away from the shoreline at Calangute Seaside, we encounter quite a lot of rip currents. When a vacationer encounters a rip present by swimming too removed from the shore, they panic as a result of the water is pulling them into the ocean,” explains Ashwin.
How are the heroes behind the rescues chosen?
Women and men between the ages of 18 and 30 years who know swimming and are dedicated to saving victims are eligible to change into Drishti lifesavers, notes Rajiv.
“Our hiring guidelines contains thorough bodily assessments, interviews, reference checks, and police verification. The bodily demanding nature of a lifesaver requires that women and men who apply ought to possess a excessive diploma of bodily health and our coaching crew does the remainder. Each lifesaver have to be able to swimming 400 metres in underneath 11 minutes. They should shortly assess the capabilities and dangers of people concerned in aquatic actions, observe on-site protocols, and supply emergency medical companies when required,” says Rajiv.
Rajiv goes on to assert, “Drishti’s 450-strong lifesaver crew undergoes a rigorous annual refresher course to keep up and enhance their emergency response abilities, bodily health, and communication talents. The coaching contains CPR, first assist, seaside operations, jet ski use, rescue tools dealing with, and varied rescue strategies. Along with lifesaving abilities, in addition they obtain coaching in management and comfortable abilities to successfully handle public interactions.”
Lifesavers should full annual coaching to retain their certification and stay eligible for obligation. This programme, carried out throughout each Goan districts, is organised by the Particular Rescue Coaching Academy (SRTA), affiliated with the Nationwide Talent Growth Council, Talent India programme, and Surf Educators Worldwide of Australia.
Drishti additionally introduced the induction of ladies lifesavers on their crew in March 2021.
Lifeguards, canine heroes, and AI know-how main seaside security in Goa
Moreover the usual tools they’re given, Drishti Marine has additionally employed canines to help them of their rescue and monitoring efforts.
As Rajiv claims, “Drishti Marine has additionally launched the primary of its type initiative in Asia — expertly educated canines referred to as ‘Paw Squad’ — to bolster their rescue efforts. These canines, accompanied by their handlers are educated in patrolling and detecting folks in misery. Drishti Marine lifesavers are additionally the primary responders to any marine strandings and are educated in accordance with the Wildlife Safety Act of India.”
The company has additionally built-in ‘superior know-how’ to reinforce the efforts of their lifeguards.
“Our sister concern, Drishti Works, has developed AURUS — a self-driving, AI-powered robotic that patrols non-swim zones, supplies logistical assist, and assists lifesavers in making public security bulletins in a number of languages. It really works alongside TRITON — an AI-driven monitoring system that gives complete seaside surveillance, spots vacationers in misery within the water over lengthy distances, and aids lifesavers in emergencies. Each AURUS and TRITON are at present deployed at Miramar seaside in Panaji and operated by our ‘tech lifesavers’,” he says.
Contained in the lives and challenges of Goa’s lifeguards
Since Drishti Marine grew to become the custodian of seaside security in Goa in 2008, their lifeguards have rescued over 7,700 folks, together with locals, and home, and worldwide vacationers, claims Rajiv.
“They’re additionally educated responders for marine life strandings, working intently with the Forest Division and NGOs centered on marine welfare. A current notable rescue occurred over the Independence Day weekend earlier this 12 months when Drishti lifesavers (lifeguards) rescued 9 fishermen after their boat capsized off Rajbagh Seaside in South Goa, demonstrating their capacity to deal with mass rescues in excessive situations,” he goes on so as to add.
Regardless of the skilled coaching that the Drishti lifeguards obtain, which saves them from many risks related to saving folks from drowning at sea, the challenges they encounter are actual.
As Shashikant notes, “When individuals are drowning, they panic. Once you immediately have interaction with a sufferer of drowning, there may be at all times the hazard that they’ll drag you into the water with them.”
He provides, “As lifeguards, we’re advised to first deploy a rescue tube or board, which the particular person drowning can maintain on to, flip them in the direction of the shore, clear up their airways, and push them in the direction of the shore. However on events you come throughout drunk individuals who have swam too far off shore and it’s arduous to get them to carry on to the rescue tube or board. With drunk folks, we attempt to establish as lots of them as doable and ship out groups to evacuate them from the seaside itself, or push them so far as away as doable from the shoreline.”
Ashwin, who claims to have completed 484 rescues so far, notes, “Regardless of having rescue tools, a drowning particular person’s first intuition is to carry on to the rescuer as a result of they’re in a state of panic. Additionally, there are events when the rip present is so robust that it takes six or seven folks with it. This occurs as a result of one particular person tries to avoid wasting the opposite however encounters robust rip currents. Dealing with these conditions is difficult and also you want multiple lifeguard and a number of tools to avoid wasting them. I used to be a part of a rescue effort the place we saved seven folks directly.”
Ashwin additionally agrees that coping with drunk folks drowning at sea is difficult. “A few of them are so drunk that they don’t even realise that they should get on prime of a rescue board. Because of years of expertise and coaching, we now have learnt tips on how to deal with such conditions. The difficulty with drunk folks is that generally they don’t have the power to get their torso on prime of the rescue board. We now have to assist them get on prime of the surfboard,” he notes.
“Nonetheless, earlier than deploying the surfboard and pushing them up on the surfboard, we now have to gauge the power and motion of the waves and time our efforts correctly. Now, if I leap into the water with out timing it correctly, the rescue board could get washed away onto the shore after which I’ve to push and carry the drowning particular person again with out the rescue tools. My job is to get the one who is drowning on prime of the rescue board and drag them again to shore,” he provides.
Regardless of their coaching, Ashwin notes that there are events when the ocean simply overwhelms you with huge waves and robust currents. “Moreover these rip currents, you’re additionally coping with robust plunging waves that roll over victims of drowning. On these events, victims are sometimes dragged 200 to 400 metres away from the shoreline. As educated lifeguards, we all know tips on how to swim and navigate previous these plunging waves and rip currents. For vacationers, nonetheless, in the event that they get rolled underneath these huge plunging waves, they find yourself taking in quite a lot of seawater. In these situations, we now have to deploy jet skis to rescue them as shortly as doable,” he explains.
“If it’s a single-person rescue, we frequently use a rescue tube. If it’s multiple particular person, we use a surf/rescue board. However our quickest tools are jet skis, and these are notably helpful throughout the monsoon season when the rip currents are strongest,” he provides.
Shashikant notes, “One other problem we encounter is uncooperative vacationers, particularly from overseas nations. Once they go to Goa for the primary time and see the Arabian Sea, they get the impression that the waters listed below are calm. What they don’t realise is the facility of robust rip currents within the Arabian Sea. Typically, we get into arguments with vacationers and should name the police to disperse them away from factors the place they’ll doubtlessly drown.”
Regardless of their greatest efforts, nonetheless, there are uncommon events when folks drown to loss of life. How do lifeguards take care of this devastation? With a resigned look on, Shashikant says, “We’re simply human, and never gods. We do every part to avoid wasting a life however generally God has different plans.”
“This is the reason lifesaving is greater than only a job; it’s a calling,” says Rajiv.
However given the dangers they undertake, what kind of financial compensation and social safety do their lifeguards obtain?
“Usually, younger lifesavers begin their careers with a wage within the vary of Rs 18,000 per thirty days. Lifesavers in senior positions can earn as much as Rs 1 lakh per thirty days. Lifesavers are supplied with legally mandated insurance coverage insurance policies, together with workmen’s compensation, and medical insurance coverage. Moreover, those that marry are eligible for advantages, comparable to LIC insurance policies and glued deposits for the couple. The organisation additionally provides a referral programme. Volunteers concerned with pursuing lifesaving as a vocation are supplied Rs 18,000 for a three-month evaluation interval,” he claims.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Photographs courtesy Drishti Marine)
