The youth group from Makaurau Marae recently completed our Kai Gathering programme which ended on a high with two open water dives at Te Kohuroa/Matheson Bay. The conditions on the day were perfect for the dive with some serious excitement levels!

Prior to reaching the coast they completed six pool sessions that are based on the 15 water competencies for drowning prevention. The students were able to draw on their existing experience from venturing out with whānau and friends to learn the essential skills, behaviours and attitudes that would keep them safe.

These included understanding shallow water blackout – knowing how to recognise if their buddy was in danger and how to respond. It was great to see them communicating with hand signals and working to keep each other safe.

After mastering some of the trickier skills like how to put on their weight belts whilst in the water, and perfecting the diving and surfacing safely, we took them on a snorkel safari! The group moved together on the course, finishing near the rocks where they were able to swim around, looking for any sea life they could find.

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Wai Wise is a free, half day programme open to the Indian community (aged 15+). Participants will increase knowledge and awareness of the different and unique water environments we are surrounded by in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.

Activities include a lifejacket experience, paddleboarding, kayaking and rafting in a controlled environment at Vector Wero Whitewater Park. The park is a world class tourism destination and the only one of its kind in Aotearoa / New Zealand.

DPA’s evidence-based teaching covers the 15 Water Competencies for Drowning Prevention. These learning outcomes are the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours we teach in all of our programmes to help prevent drowning and make sure everyone comes home safe.

Places are limited with three Saturday sessions running this summer. Be sure to sign up today or get in touch with any questions.

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Manawa means heart in Te Reo Māori and “our heart” is what Manawa Harrison, 17, is to his friends and whānau.

Manawa’s journey has not been an easy one. He was diagnosed at a young age with Autism, ADHD, SPD and mild Tourette Syndrome. He had trouble focusing in school and his behaviour was often erratic.

Living in the small East Coast town of Ruatoria, (Ruatorea) near Gisborne, made access to services and professionals that could help very difficult.

After years of struggle, his father Sparks, along with some supportive medical specialists, decided it was time to stop focusing on what he “should” be doing and instead focus on what he loves to do.

For Manawa that means going hard on the self taught drums, flying through the air doing bombs, hot pools and all things water related.

And so for four school holidays in a row, Sparks and Manawa made the eight hour journey from Ruatoria to Auckland to attend the Splash Break-Away Programme run by Drowning Prevention Auckland, first in Manurewa then at West Wave in Henderson.

“He loves it. He loves the staff, he thinks they are really cool, there was no negativity and he enjoys being around the other kids. He wasn’t sure if he would like it at first but he really did. I had tears in my eyes driving back to Ruatoria listening to him talk about having such a good time.”

Sparks is also appreciative of West Wave Aquatics Centre and Diving New Zealand who made time for Manawa to do some sweet bombs from the top diving board.

“The younger kids from the Splash programme came to watch him and were like ‘wow look at him’ – he loved that.”

Being involved in water and water safety programmes have really helped build Manawa’s self confidence and he is now regularly attending school in Ruatoria as well as Tautau Village in Gisborne to help him with life skills. He has a bright future ahead of him with plans to play the drums at Wembley Stadium as well as help other children with Autism find their passions.

“Manawa wasn’t ever supposed to be able to do some of things he can do, but he is doing them.”

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Highlights from our April activity including Wai Wise, a global drowning prevention event at Vector Wero Whitewater Park and the new one-day SPLASH holiday programme.

Wai Wise Programme

One of DPA’s flagship programmes, Wai Wise, ran for the first time with Auckland’s Asian community last month.

The programme provides an insight of water safety learning through both theory sessions and a series of practical workshops to improve water competence, survival and safety skills. Over twenty participants from Chinese Dragon Boat Association (CDBA) nicknamed the Dragon Riders, took part. over several weekends. . Whilst participants joined with boating experience from paddling dragon boats, they lacked water safety knowledge and experience.

DPA partnered with Coastguard Boating Education (CBE) who supported the courses on Day Skipper and In-water Survival.

Global water safety and drowning prevention event – Vector Wero Whitewater Park

Last month, Vector Wero hosted a global water safety and drowning prevention event in collaboration with several key partners in the aquatics industry. The event provided members of the public with free in-water experiences, lessons and resources to keep themselves safer in on and around the water. The activities included white water rafting, stand up paddleboarding, canoe polo and kayaking.

It was fantastic to see such high levels of engagement with hundreds of people learning and having fun.

The DPA team provided guidance and information on Auckland’s navigational safety bylaws, lifejacket use, pool safety messaging and ran a real time demonstration of the 4R’s for bystander rescue. The demonstration teaches members of the public how to assist people in the water without putting themselves at risk. This is an important skill to learn as statistics show us that 3% of rescuers who enter the water to save somebody in distress end up drowning themselves.

• Recognition This emphasises the importance of recognising when someone is at risk of drowning and taking action to prevent it. This includes being aware of the signs of distress, such as gasping for air or struggling to stay afloat and taking immediate action to assist them. It is also important to keep an eye on those who are swimming or playing in the water, particularly children or those who may not be strong swimmers.
• Respond If someone is in danger of drowning, the next step is to respond quickly. This may involve alerting others in the area, such as lifeguards, other swimmers or calling 111 and asking for the police. It is important to remember that time is of the essence in a drowning situation, so any delay in responding could have serious consequences.
• Rescue The next step is to rescue the person in danger. This may involve using tools around you including, flotation devices, water bottles, sticks, throwing a rope or other objects to the person which will assist in keeping them afloat until they are able to swim to shore or until help arrives.
• Resuscitation Finally, once the person has been rescued, it is important to revive them if necessary. This may involve performing CPR at a rate of 30 compressions and two breaths or other lifesaving techniques like the recovery position until emergency responders arrive.

Complete the free Bystander Rescue lesson within the Water Safety for Youth and Young Adults eLearning module.

April 2023 SPLASH Holiday Programme

SPLASH originally started as a weeklong holiday programme and has has now been re-designed to to run in one day – a day filled with new learnings and water safety experiences.

During the school holidays, SPLASH took place at Mount Albert Aquatic Centre, offering two daylong programmes for around 30 children aged 8-10 and11-13 year olds. The programme covers many aspects around the water, with some of these being, lifejacket safety, boating safety, recognising, and assisting a drowning person and beach safety.

The children thoroughly enjoyed all of the activities with the highlights being the snorkelling and safer boating. The safer boating activity not only taught them what to do and what to wear when on a boat, but it also developed their teamwork and leadership skills.

The children really enjoyed the programme and left with a whole new set of skills. Many were keen to return for the next holidays!

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