10-year-old Tackles
A ‘NZ problem’
Rashie Reporter assigned to help curb rash of drownings in NZ
A self-confessed “water baby”, 10-year-old Bonnie Taylor, is part of the latest move in the battle against a rising New Zealand issue:
Drownings
As tens of thousands of Kiwi families feel the beach beckoning as summer arrives, Westpac NZ have appointed Bonnie as the 2023 Rashie Reporter – a role entwined with Westpac’s water safety and rescue operations. Her assignment is to get out and about to interview and talk to people about staying safe in the water.
In this role she will be promoting and wearing a Rescue Rashie – a bright red rash vest available in sizes 2 to 8 years, which, when unzipped, reveals CPR instructions – to help her pass on the vital message to children and adults alike.
Part of a Westpac initiative to keep tamariki safe this summer in the face of New Zealand’s high rate of drownings, Bonnie will act as the voice of water safety as Kiwis flock to beaches with holidays and hotter temperatures around the corner.
Last year a 10-year-high of 94 people drowned in New Zealand and the toll could rise even higher in 2023.
“Drowning events are devastating for families and communities. We all have a part to play in keeping our tamariki safe around water”.
WESTPAC NZ GENERAL MANAGER OF PRODUCT, SUSTAINABILITY AND MARKETING SARAH HEARN
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Bonnie, who lives in the Auckland suburb of Waterview with her parents Fran McDermott and Matt Taylor, brother Taine (17) and sister Eve (12), says it feels good to be helping spread the word around the water issue.
“I have an aunt who got caught in a rip and had to be rescued, so I know water safety is an important message. I reckon because I’m a kid, people are more likely to listen to me too.”
You could almost say she was born to the task:
“I love the water,” she says. “I’m a water baby and if I had the chance, I’d be in it all day. I’d only come out for food.”
In fact, her whole family sound like water babies. In summer, they spend weeks at their bach in Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula – swimming every day at both the ocean beach and in the estuary – and most years spend time in the Pacific in places like Fiji and Tahiti where the water is never far away.
Her mum Fran regularly visits the islands as part of her job publishing trade travel magazines Islandtime, Pacific Romance and Pacific Family, and more often than not takes the family with her.
Omaha Beach, north of Auckland, is another favourite for the McDermott-Taylors. Dad Matt is a keen surfer and is teaching Bonnie the tricks of the trade – and good luck trying to keep her out of the pool at her school (Waterview Primary School) in summer.
Bonnie is also keeping the Rashie Reporter role in the family – sister Eve filled the role in 2022. While this inspired her and gave her some pointers to what the job involved, Bonnie says it was something she wanted to do anyway.
Not only will she be on the ground talking to the public and kids about water safety and the dos and don’ts of keeping everyone safe, Bonnie will be learning CPR from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew, learning about water safety at a local beach and showcasing Water Safety New Zealand’s Water Skills for Life programme.
The day Bonnie did this interview she had spent several hours at a beach talking to water safety experts, taking part in promotional filming, giving away Rescue Rashies and approaching beach goers with questions like:
"
Do you know what CPR is?
What do you know about water safety?’
Why is it important?
What do you know about the Westpac Rescue helicopter?
"
Although Bonnie has never been in trouble in the water - a quick exit from the sea when a shark was sighted at Tairua the closest she has come - she has plenty of tips of her own to pass on, especially to other kids.
"Always Swim Between
The Flags."
"If you get into a rip get out if you can or put your hand up
for help, wear a lifejacket on a boat and never swim alone.”
BONNIE TAYLOR - 2023 RASHIE REPORTER
Mum Fran says she is very proud of Bonnie. "She got the job not because her sister did it last year, but on her own merits. They liked her vibe."
Fran also believes the fact the family has always been around water has helped. “They’ve (her children) all had swimming lessons, have done lots of swimming and snorkelling in the islands and just been brought up in that environment.
“As parents we’ve also placed a huge importance on supervising them in the water. At the ocean beach in Tairua, they’re never out of our eyesight and, in the estuary, there is always an adult with them.”
Westpac’s Suraiya Phillimore-Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, says, as the Rashie Reporter, Bonnie will help put “our Tamariki front and centre of the conversation by being the voice of water safety and spreading the message to her peers and adults alike.”
The Rashie Reporter is designed to be a human reminder of the need to have water safety top of mind just as those minds are beginning to relax in the summer holidays:
“ Rescue Rashies encourage people to be mindful around the water this summer. New Zealand kids love being by the water and we want to make sure they are protected from more than just the sun.”
SURAIYA PHILLIMORE-SMITH – CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER WESTPAC
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What Are Rashies And
How Do They Work?
Rescue Rashies are kids’ vests
that are bright and easy to spot.
When unzipped, they reveal CPR instructions to follow in an emergency. Each comes with a swim bag and a special CPR magnet to stick to your fridge so instructions are always handy.
They come in four sizes and fit children from two to eight years. They are made from 82 per cent recycled Polyester and 18 per cent Spandex and provide UPF50+ protection from the sun. The CPR instructions are suitable for children aged two to eight years but are not suitable for infants.
The Rashies can be ordered by visiting www.westpac.co.nz/rashies.
When buying a vest, people have the option to buy a second Rashie that will be donated to a primary school child taking part in the Water Safety for Life (WSFL) programme.
Westpac will donate 100 per cent of your purchase to a local rescue helicopter trust. Since producing the first Rescue Rashie in 2019, Westpac has distributed over 10,000 to Kiwis.
Parents’ Crucial Role
One impressed with the Rashies is Daniel Gerrard, Chief Executive of Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) who has teamed up with Westpac to distribute them.
“It is a fantastic concept,” he says. “The vests are bright and visible with a message that is spot on. What I most like is that it not just great for children but is a reminder to mums and dads that supervision is still the most important preventative action in the aquatic environment.”
He has his fingers crossed the safety message is getting through to younger age groups: To November 10 (when this interview took place) Gerrard says there had been no drownings anywhere in New Zealand in those aged five to 14.
Despite this, the overall number of drownings is not reducing. To the same mid-November date, 76 drownings had been recorded (compared to 94 for all of 2022) and Gerrard says WSNZ modelling is predicting that number will climb to 101 by the end of the year. If that eventuates, 2023 will be the worst year this century.
Last year’s figure of 94 – which included eight under the age of 10 – was itself a 10-year high and Gerrard says drowning is becoming a national disaster for New Zealand.
“It is the fourth most dangerous recreational activity in New Zealand and we have drowning rates four times higher than the UK and a third more than Australia on a per head of population basis."
“For every one of these someone loses a life, a family is impacted. I believe the situation is unacceptable and as a country we should be acknowledging it as a more significant issue than we are giving air time to.”
Activities in and around beaches, rivers and streams are the riskiest - in 2022, 46 people drowned in these environments - while males aged 45 and over are the most at-risk group, with 44 drownings recorded in this age bracket in 2022, many of which happened while boating or fishing off rocks.
Why So High?
Gerrard says this is partly because a lot more people are participating in water activities. “There has been an increase in boat ownership in recent years and people have more access to toys such as kayaks and surfboards.
“As beginners, they don’t always have the necessary skills or competency; a third of people get into trouble because they are not skilled or are unsafe in these environments. Never swim alone either, because many who get into difficulty are by themselves.
“Wearing a life jacket is crucial as two-thirds of drownings on boats occur among those not wearing one,”
He says there has also been a spike in the number of people rock fishing, often from dodgy and dangerous places. It’s an increase he believes stems in part from the need to put food on the table in the face of the rising cost of living.
He says some people also underestimate their ability in the water, so it is important to know your limits. “This is especially so for older men who may have been strong swimmers in their 20s but now in their 60s are maybe not the same."
DAN GERRARD– CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF WATER SAfETY NEW ZEALAND (WSNZ)
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Schools Programme ‘About Survival’
Gerrard says WSNZ wants Kiwis to enjoy the water, coastline and beaches by learning basic skills from a young age so that today’s little New Zealanders can enjoy a safe life-long journey in the aquatic environment.
To that end, WSNZ launched the WSFL programme in 2016. Taught in primary schools, it is linked to the national curriculum and is considered the national standard for aquatic education – giving children the skills and knowledge they need to assess risks and make smart decisions around water.
“It is not a learn-to-swim or stroke development programme,” Gerrard says. “It is about survival and teaching children how to stay safe or, if they are in trouble, how to remain afloat until they can be rescued.”
He says a re-vamped version will soon be going out to schools. “We know how hard it is for teachers, they have many things to do so we wanted to support them more effectively by giving them better resources and making it easier for them to teach groups of up to 30 children.”
Despite the WSFL programme, Gerrard says only 27 per cent of New Zealand schools provide a minimum acceptable combination of eight or more water-based lessons of 26-30 minutes duration per year. Ideally the minimum should be 10 lessons of at least 30 minute
Water Safety Tips –
The Dos And Don’ts
Knowing the dos and don’ts when taking part in water activities is vital to staying safe. Westpac has complied the following list to help remind people what they are:
Be Prepared
• Learn water safety skills,
including CPR.
• Set rules for being safe in the
water including safe play.
• Always use safe and correct
equipment including lifejackets
and know the weather and water
conditions before you get in.
Watch Out For Yourself And Others
• Adults - always actively supervision
children and keep children under
five-years-old within arm's reach.
• Swim with others and in areas
where lifeguards are present.
• Never go diving or fishing for kai
alone or with a medical condition.
• Be aware of the dangers.
• Check for safety signs, warning
flags, currents and rips.
• Enter shallow and unknown water
feet first.
• Wear suitable swimwear as some
clothing may drag you down.
Know Your Limits
• Think about what you can and
can't do in the water
• Being in the water will make you
tired. Get out before you've
reached your limit
Learn To Perform CPR
Being able to perform CPR while emergency services are on the way can dramatically increase the chance of a person’s survival. If we all put our hands together and learn, we can help keep loved ones safe.
WATCH RICHIE McCAW'S CPR SKILLS
As the Rashie vests show, CPR highlights a number of steps to be taken if someone gets into trouble in the water.
Here’s Another Look At Them:
D for Danger:
Make sure there is no danger to yourself, others and the patient.
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R for Response:
Check for a response. Squeeze the patient’s shoulders and
ask “are you ok? Open your eyes”. If there is no response, send for help.
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S for Shout:
Shout for help. Get someone to call 111 for an ambulance.
___________________
A for Airway:
Open the patient’s airway. Placed them on their back, tilt their head back and lift their chin. If the airway is blocked, clear it by rolling them onto their side.
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B for breathing:
Look, listen and feel for breathing for no more than 10 seconds. If they are not breathing normally START CPR. If they are breathing normally, roll onto their side.
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C for CPR 30 compressions:
TWO BREATH COMPRESSIONS
1: Place one or two hands over the centre of patient’s chest.
2: Compress the chest to one-third the depth of the chest 30 times.
Use the rate of two compressions a second (100-200 per minute).
BREATHS
1: Tilt the patient’s head back, lift the chin, pinch the nostrils.
2: Put your mouth over their mouth.
3: Give two breaths.
4. Keep going with 30 compressions/two breaths until
help arrives or they recover.
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D for Defibrillator:
Attach defibrillator (AED) to the patient’s bare chest as soon as available. Turn it on and follow its instructions.
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