While you might have completed your CPR training, tending to a real-life cardiac arrest is no easy feat and can be confronting and daunting for many.
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To ensure the lifeguards at the Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre are confident in addressing an emergency situation, Wagga paramedics joined with lifeguards for a training day at the centre on Tuesday.
The training day, which saw lifeguards and paramedics reenact a drowning, rescue and CPR, not only gave the lifeguards hands-on experience, but enabled them to get familiarised with working with the paramedics in a time of crisis.
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Oasis manager Marc Geppert said the simulation-based emergency training was a joint initiative between NSW Ambulance, Royal Life Saving NSW and Wagga City Council.
"Our lifeguard team have regular training through our internal proficiency training whilst also completing their annual CPR, first aid and lifeguard certificates yet the opportunity to receive on the job feedback through this type of experience from the experts is hard to replicate"," he said.
"In our regular proficiency training there is a mix of theory and practical but for the opportunity to simulate real time emergency situations with the guidance of NSW Ambulance primary, intensive care and special operations paramedics is invaluable.
"It provides our staff the opportunity to learn from the best whilst being exposed to the latest techniques and procedures whilst utilising state of the art emergency equipment."
![Lifeguards and paramedics Dayle Langridge, Jonathan 'Jono' Collins, Kacy Bell, Huw Murray and Jessica Wendt team up at a vital training day at Oasis. Picture by Ash Smith Lifeguards and paramedics Dayle Langridge, Jonathan 'Jono' Collins, Kacy Bell, Huw Murray and Jessica Wendt team up at a vital training day at Oasis. Picture by Ash Smith](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JEQDf2CFmqVGDcvEsZPwEY/c3c3dbe2-0f5b-4a0d-98d4-74421b856bb2.jpg/r0_0_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Wagga-based NSW Ambulance intensive care paramedic Aaron Fulton said the collaboration is unique.
"We wanted to make sure if an emergency happened in the community or at the Oasis our lifeguards can work collaboratively so we can have a good outcome for any persons suffering from a life threatening emergency," he said.
"This is a great opportunity, a cardiac arrest, especially if you haven't seen one before, is quite confronting, there's a lot going on and what you need to do can be confronting for some people.
"Having this high fidelity training is great it makes sure our lifeguards feel comfortable doing a cardiac arrest in a real life scenario and we also want to ensure a good chance of survival for a person who suffers a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting and these lifeguards are at the front of that."
Royal Life Saving Riverina regional manager Mick Dasey said the hands-on training provided is vital.
"The most important thing about the training is to get them to understand what the roles of each other are," he said.
"We're trying to do as much as we can so we have this connection between the organisations so if something does happen the response can be first class."
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