Community Trainer
As a long-time advocate for Royal Life Saving WA, Sallie Watson is very keen to ensure the next generation learns lifesaving skills. She currently works as a Community Trainer, teaching our first aid and lifeguard courses, but has been involved with Royal Life Saving WA since she was a school student herself. She then took the message into the military, and for the past 18 years has been involved with Lake Joondalup Baptist College ensuring students have the opportunity to learn lifesaving and first aid.
Sallie says, "I became involved because I think it's very important for people to understand aquatics and the risks that are involved in it, and also to have some basic first aid knowledge to help anyone in need." She says our motto of "Everyone can be a lifesaver" is very achievable.
"If we teach kids at school first aid; from basic resuscitation through to Senior First Aid, then they go home and speak to mum and dad, and then mum and dad want to do a course, so it becomes a 'pay it forward'."
For Sallie, a highlight of her work is seeing kids realise that lifesaving can be a career. "Teaching kids from year 8 through to year 12, and then they go to uni and want to pay their way. They decide to do a
pool lifeguard course and some of them decide this is a career for them, so they take up pool supervising and go to work at the aquatic centres."
Sallie has also been instrumental in the delivery and development of our annual
Pool Lifeguard Challenge, which saw 13 teams compete this year, responding to emergency scenarios and practicing essential lifeguard skills. "I think it’s one of the best things we've got in the aquatics industry at the moment. It brings a mateship and helps the lifeguards to be able to work as a team, and challenging their skills against other centres keeps their professional development up. The young ones are looking forward to it and are already speaking about next year's challenge."
Looking to the future, Sallie wants to see more kids take up lifeguarding. "I'd like to see the
Junior Lifeguard Club develop further, and then those guys can step into lifeguarding and into the Lifeguard Challenge."