Felicity Benedyka was at the beach with her family on Sunday evening when she and three other off-duty doctors and nurses rushed to help a man who was pulled from the Murrumbidgee River in a critical condition.

Ms Benedyka said together they managed to resuscitate the nearly-drowned man using chest compressions before paramedics arrived and he was flown to Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.

"The guy is definitely meant to be here, because the guys pulled him out of the water and we went straight into compressions [and] he had no signs of life," Ms Benedyka said.

She said bystanders rallied in a massive community effort with some calling Triple Zero while others comforted the man's family members, who watched the traumatic incident unfold just a year after another man died in the river on Christmas Day.

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Ms Benedyka's sister Sally, who is trained in first aid, said it was rare to be able to get someone from "that critical point" back into the recovery position without defibrillator support.

Their mother Jenny McKinnon was one of a few people who searched desperately for a defibrillator in the 10 minutes before paramedics arrived.

The family are calling for safety improvements to be made at the beach including the installation of a first-aid kit and a defibrillator, which they suggest could have an alarm in place to alert police to future incidents and protect the life-saving equipment from vandals.

Ms McKinnon also asked whether volunteer lifeguards could be stationed at the beach during peak holiday times.

St John Ambulance Wagga division officer Nick Castles said the use of a defibrillator greatly increased a person's chance of survival.

"It would be one of the best ideas, because if the pool has one the beach should have one as well," he said.

"If you have a defibrillator it increases the chance of getting the heart back to a normal rhythm - CPR won't always restart a heart after a cardiac event.

"A lot of the time a defibrillator comes with instructions as well. Anyone can use it even without prior training in a serious emergency. In a worse case scenario setting just open it up and go."

Riverina Police District Superintendent Bob Noble urged residents to be cautious when swimming in the Murrumbidgee.

"There are submerged logs that you can't see. There are currents that you can't see. And, there are pockets of cold water that you can't see," he said.

"If those people had not been there, that person may well have lost their life. They were very, very lucky."

The Daily Advertiser contacted Wagga City Council asking if a defibrillator could be installed at the beach, but they had no staff available to comment.