Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows reality television footage of lifeguards conducting an emergency resuscitation on Bondi Beach in Sydney. In the first scene lifeguards are posing for a promotional shoot when a Japanese student, Takahiro Ono, is noticed floating unconscious in the surf. The lifeguards spring into action. Placing Ono on the beach, they start the resuscitation procedure. A portable defibrillator is attached. After one shock the defibrillator advises that a check for a pulse should be made and, if none is present, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) should begin.

Educational value points

• This 2006 footage provides a dramatic illustration of the techniques used in the initial stages of resuscitating a clinically dead person. In case Ono’s airways were blocked, the lifeguards rolled him onto his side. They then carried out chin and backward head tilts. After failing to detect a pulse in various parts of his body, they began CPR using a bag-valve mask to ventilate his lungs and chest compressions at a rate of 100 per minute to restore blood circulation.

• The automated external defibrillator (AED) – a portable device used to try to restore a normal heart rhythm to people whose hearts have stopped or have developed arrhythmia – is a crucial part of emergency resuscitation. It basically consists of adhesive electrode pads that collect information about the heart’s rhythm and deliver a defibrillating shock if required, and a microprocessor to interpret the rhythm and prompt the operators about what to do next.

• An electric shock as substantial as that of an AED is dangerous to anyone, whether they are a drowning victim or a person in physical contact with the patient, and the clip shows the safety precautions necessary when delivering a defibrillating shock. Lifeguards are trained in the operation of AEDs and they are seen here carrying out the basic precautions of moving the victim up the beach out of contact with water and advising everyone to stand clear.

• The clip exemplifies many of the techniques used in reality television to increase the dramatic impact of unfolding events. Footage from the handheld camera, including close-ups of the resuscitation, positions viewers as rescuers racing to the scene and saving Ono’s life. Most of the audio is live sound, interspersed with voice-over scripted in short sharp sentences to heighten suspense and provide just enough information for viewers to know what is happening.

• Unlike the surf 'lifesavers’ seen at many beaches around Australia, these 'lifeguards’ are not volunteers but full-time professional employees of the local municipal council and form part of the range of services provided by the third tier of government in Australia. In 2007 Waverley Council employed 35 lifeguards to patrol Bondi Beach 365 days a year, with up to eight on duty at any one time.

• Lifesavers are iconic figures in Australian beach culture, seen as supremely fit, highly trained as a team, ready to save lives at a moment’s notice. The lifeguards conform to this popular image. The quality of their teamwork is evident in the clip. They all hold Advanced Resuscitation Certificates and have completed defibrillator courses. They have all passed an exacting physical test that includes an 800-m pool swim, a 600-m ocean swim and a 600-m sand run.

• Professional lifeguards form part of a long tradition of saving lives on Australian beaches that dates back to the early 1900s. At that time, public sea 'bathing’ during daylight hours had recently become legal in New South Wales and the number of drownings had risen dramatically. Groups of experienced swimmers established clubs to patrol popular beaches and voluntarily protect beachgoers. One of the first of these was established at Bondi in 1904.

• The dramatic events unfolding in the clip, taken from Episode 4 of Series 1, suggest why the Australian reality television program Bondi Rescue was able to attract about 1.2 million viewers per episode in 2006. Film crews followed the lifeguards at work patrolling Bondi Beach throughout the daylight hours every weekend between November and January. The crews were obliged not to impede or interrupt the lifeguards during any rescues and to obey all their directives.