What records and incident reports does a patrol captain need to complete?

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Accepted Answer

Logs kept on every patrol: a Patrol Log, Incident Logs and an IRB Log, each in the Operations App or a log book. The Patrol Captain must ensure information is recorded correctly in the Operations App, log books and report forms, and must record in the Operations App notes that the start-of-patrol briefing took place. Equipment problems: damaged or missing equipment is reported in the log, tagged, and communicated as soon as possible to the Club Captain or Lifeguard Supervisor. If a minimum requirement for keeping the beach open is lost (for example the IRB is no longer operational), log it in the Operations App, or if the app is not available notify SurfCom by radio on Channel 3 or the local repeater channel. Incident logs: incident logs are required to be entered into SurfGuard (the Incident Report Database) within 24 hours of the incident. Rescue vessel incidents: any incident involving a Surf Life Saving vessel or craft, including an IRB or RWC, must be immediately reported internally and escalated to the SLSNSW State Operations Centre or State Duty Officer. They advise whether the skipper must submit a Vessel Incident Report to Transport for NSW, which must be completed within 24 hours where the incident results in death or injury, more than $5,000 damage to a vessel or other property, or damage (or a risk of damage) to the environment. Source: SLSNSW Public Safety SOPs (September 2026), PSS 1 (incident reporting), PSS 3.3, PSS 7.1 to 7.3.