Background
The Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030 emphasises the importance of CPR and first aid training. Family members or friends are the first responders in many drowning incidents and increasing CPR skills may improve drowning survival outcomes. However, barriers such as cost, access and language can limit participation among at-risk groups.

Description
Royal Life Saving WA’s Heart Beat Club is an education program for parents and carers, covering CPR and basic first aid for common childhood injuries. With support from the Department of Health WA, an initiative was introduced in 2014 under the Keep Watch toddler drowning prevention program, enabling priority groups (regional, Aboriginal, low socioeconomic status and multicultural communities) to attend free Heart Beat Club training. In 2022, the program expanded to include adults aged 45+ (Heart Beat 45+) under the Make The Right Call program, with content adapted for age-related risks. Courses are delivered in community settings through partnerships with local organisations.

Lessons learned
Since 2014, 368 parent courses have been delivered across WA, with 4159 participants. Since 2022, 48 Heart Beat 45+ courses have been delivered, engaging 713 older adults.
Evaluation shows positive outcomes, with participants valuing the practical nature of the training and reporting increased confidence to perform CPR. The community-based delivery enhances engagement and accessibility for those unlikely to attend mainstream training.

Conclusions
Subsidised, community-focused training programs can improve access to lifesaving skills among high-risk populations. Expanding these models, particularly in regional areas, will further support people to respond in drowning emergencies

Training pool lifeguards on effective supervision emphasise the development of skills to prevent and rescue drowning swimmers. The skills necessary to detect drowning events as they occur is also an integral component of lifeguard supervision. The design of drowning detection-based training may be difficult due to the challenges in creating realistic training environments that simulate naturalistic drowning-related incidences. Virtual reality-based simulations offer a potential solution and provide realistic scenarios that afford opportunities to acquire and sustain skills associated with drowning detection.

The aim of the research was to test whether a virtual reality-based, lifeguard training program is associated with improvements in drowning detection skills. Certified pool lifeguards completed an assessment of their drowning detection skills prior to, and following, exposure to virtual reality-based simulations of an outdoor pool that required participants to detect a drowning patron. Drowning detection skills was assessed using the pool lifeguarding edition of the EXPERTise 2.0 software that incorporates five tasks designed to assess the capacity to accurately recognise, identify, associate, discriminate, and prioritise key features of drowning. It was hypothesized that exposure to virtual reality-based simulations would be associated with improvements in drowning detection skills. The results revealed improvements in drowning detection skills following virtual reality-based training. The results suggest that enhancing current lifeguard training programs with virtual reality-based scenarios may be useful in the development and maintenance of drowning detection skills.

Background
Early intervention through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is critical to survival in drowning incidents. However, access to compliant CPR training remains constrained, particularly across regional, multicultural and underserved communities. Current Registered Training Organisation (RTO) models rely on manual, assessor-dependent processes, placing compliance and assessment burden at the point of delivery. This limits scalability, constrains workforce capacity, and reduces access to training, contributing to gaps in CPR capability at a population level.
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Description
This project introduces a centralised, digitally managed practical CPR assessment model that removes assessment and compliance burden from distributed training environments. Learners complete training through eLearning and immersive simulation, with trainers and assessors able to join sessions remotely where required. Practical performance is captured as structured, standardised evidence and verified centrally by qualified assessors against defined competency criteria, enabling compliant training delivery without requiring assessor presence at the point of delivery. The model supports deployment across regional and remote locations and enables multilingual delivery for multicultural communities.
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Lessons Learned
Initial deployments demonstrate increased training throughput, reduced delivery friction, and expanded access in regional and underserved communities. Digitising assessment and compliance enables consistent outcomes while expanding the pool of facilitators. Traditional CPR training relies on scheduled group sessions that constrain access. The model enables on-demand individual training, improving accessibility and participation.
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Conclusions
Centralised, digitally managed CPR assessment enables population-scale CPR capability without compromising compliance. By removing access constraints across regional, multicultural and underserved communities, this model aligns with national priorities to increase water safety capability and improve bystander response in drowning incidents.

High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a key determinant of survival from OHCA, and targeted education programs have been shown to improve CPR performance.

This research examined both the epidemiology and outcomes of cardiac arrest on Australian beaches and the impact of a targeted CPR quality improvement intervention for Australian Surf Lifesavers.

Beach cardiac arrest data were obtained from SLSA’s national Incident Reporting Database, with anonymised reports analysed for incidents attended between December 2000 and May 2020. A multi-centre before-and-after cohort study evaluated an evidence-based CPR educational intervention for previously trained Surf Lifesavers.

A total of 158 cardiac arrest incidents were identified. Patients had a mean age of 46 years (SD 18.9), 83% were male, and 68% were participating in water-related activities. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) prior to hospital transport was achieved in 22% of cases. Higher odds of ROSC were associated with incidents occurring within flagged patrol areas (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.5–11.2) and the use of oxygen therapy (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1–7.1).

Following the educational intervention, CPR quality improved significantly, with chest compression fraction increasing from 69.2% to 80.4% (+11.2%, p<0.0001), total pause time reducing from 36.1 to 22.1 seconds (−14.0 seconds, p<0.001), and compressions delivered over two minutes increasing from 170 to 182 (+11.7, p<0.001). Compression rates improved from 125 to 111 bpm (p<0.001), closer to guideline recommendations. Appropriately delivered ventilations increased from 5.5 to 7.0 (p=0.01). Total pause time during the two minutes significantly reduced after the intervention, dropping from a mean of 36.08 seconds to 22.8 seconds (difference = -13.97 seconds; p < 0.001).

These findings highlight the important contribution of SLSA members to cardiac arrest response and demonstrate that targeted CPR quality improvement initiatives can significantly enhance CPR performance among volunteer first responders, with the potential to improve outcomes following beach-based cardiac arrest.

Background
Box Jellyfish (Cubozoa) are an extremely venomous marine stinger distributed throughout northern Australia. Often found nearshore or in rivers and creeks, they pose significant risk to beachgoers, with beaches requiring stinger nets for swimmers to safely enjoy the water. Children are an especially high-risk demographic due to their small body mass, with the last 14 sting fatalities in the Northern Territory all being children. Despite this considerable hazard, treatment and first aid for cubozoan stings remains a contentious issue, with misguided treatment being ineffective at best, and at worst contributing to mortality. This research intends to help clarify which treatment methods best mitigate the effects of envenomation from the Australian Box Jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri.
Methods
Two live jellyfish were collected, with tentacle sections excised and applied to blood agar plates. Tentacles were removed after 10 minutes, and a treatment applied, including heat packs, ice packs, seawater, vinegar, and StingNoMoreTM. A 30-hour timeseries of sting area was recorded to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment methods in reducing venom activity.
Results
Preliminary image analysis showed that ice packs worsened sting area after 16 hours, while applying heat packs reduced sting area, with this effect increasing with extended heat application. Preliminary results corroborate previous research, highlighting that careful heat application reduces venom activity, while ice pack application exacerbates haemolysis.
Conclusions
These results demonstrate the treatment value of existing methods – heat and vinegar – while also highlighting the effectiveness of novel Copper-Gluconate spray products. We propose first aid guidelines be updated to reflect our results, by advising treatments prioritise vinegar application followed by heat, and if available, Copper Gluconate products. Lastly, sting kits, particularly in remote areas where medical treatment may not be immediately available, should be modified to support delivery of these treatments.