Kambalda students strive for Bronze Medallions

Students from Kambalda West District High School ended November with Bronze Medallions in hand after challenging their lifesaving skills with Royal Life Saving WA.

Following last year’s success which saw eight students take part in the course, Royal Life Saving once again travelled to the Goldfields to teach a new group of 14 young people.

According to the latest WA Drowning Report, more than half of all drowning deaths happen outside of major cities, with people in regional communities 1.8 times more likely to drown than those in Perth’s metro.

In the Goldfields, 20 people lost their lives to drowning in the past decade which is why it’s important that this community has access to water safety education.

The Bronze Medallion course equips participants with vital lifesaving and rescue skills, which are essential in addressing this statistic and to work towards drowning prevention. These skills can be used in any of the various waterways people living WA enjoy, which is part of our Respect the River program under the inland waterways project, and is funded by the Australian Government and Royal Life Saving Australia. 

Royal Life Saving trainer, Dianne Crisp, commends the students for taking part and improving their valuable lifesaving skills.

“It's great to see these young people tackle the challenges of timed swim and tows as well as the other activities that they weren't confident with in the beginning,” she said.

“Now they can gain employment with the Coolgardie Shire in the recreation area and hopefully progress through to becoming qualified Pool Lifeguards.”

Six of the students successfully completed the required swim, tow and spinal techniques to be awarded their Bronze Medallions, while two completed their requalification and another two received their Bronze Star.

KWDHS Deputy Principal Danielle Larkin, who helped to facilitate the program, hopes achieving their Bronze Medallion will open doors for some of the students.

“All of the students said they had fun and hope they can get a lifeguard job from the experience,” she said.

The program was made possible thanks to Principal Community Partner BHP, which is helping to implement a range of Royal Life Saving water safety and lifesaving education initiatives in regional and remote areas of WA. Learn more about the benefits of this long-standing partnership at the link below.