Australia Day weekend at St Kilda beach is a tradition for enioving a picnic and family swam
local lifeguard, recalls that on this day there were so many people you could barely se
icnic and family swimming. Robert, a
1300 people in the water. Robert was one of several lifeguards on duty, rotating between the
so many people you could barely see the water. With over
the crowd and patrolling on the beach buggy. Robert felt that with things so busy, there was an
wards on duty, rotating between the tower, working
or which worried him and he was not sure things were under control. Robert approached the
tower to relieve another guard, and began scanning the water and crowd.
us point Robert spotted a child floating face beneath the surface of the water outside the flags. He
leaped from the tall tower, raced to the water as
ne tall tower, raced to the water as fast as he could, and single-handedly pulled the child onto
the sand. He observed that her skin was white, her lips blue and there was no pulse, and began th
in: She's dead" ... "what if she's dead" ... "what is I can't save her" ... and other thoughts about the
consequences of a drowning.
the parents standing at Robert's side, Robert began CPR and worked on the child for what he estimated
ve minutes with no response. He continued working and after about another 30 seconds the child began
10 cough, cry and breath. Her colour began to return as the paramedics arrived and took the child away to be
checked at the hospital.
As his fellow lifeguards rallied around Robert to commend his swift reaction, Robert's memory of the
experience was a blur with only quick flashbacks of a figure in the water, and then pulling the girl out. He
needed some help getting to his feet and back to the tower complaining of sore legs and a headache. When he
sat in the tower to catch his breath he became a little tearful.
He felt somewhat shocked and upset by what happened and was sent home to rest. Robert returned to his
voluntary lifeguard duties the next weekend, and although he felt more cautious and watchful, he was eager
to make a positive contribution to keeping the beaches safe.
Evaluate Robert's experience in relation to:
The type and source of the stress experienced by Josh
The effect of Robert's hormonal response to the drowning event on his nervous system functioning
The physiological processes involved as a way of Robert's body adapting and dealing with the stressor