Locals honoured at Hermanus Awards Evening

Station 17 Hermanus hosted a small awards evening at their rescue base last night. Letters of Appreciation were handed over to locals; Jaco Stemmet, Jolene Hughes and Athenkosi Dlavuza for their involvement in some brave rescues in Kleinmond and Hermanus.Crew were also presented with their Station Excellence Award and their Pat O Sullivan award because not all crew were able to attend the AGM.Holly Bellingham and Simon Turner of Sumaridge Wines also joined in on the celebrations, handing over a pledge to the value of R755 500 to Station 17 HermanusBelow are some photos:

Jolene Hughes awarded with a Chief Executive Officer's Letter of AppreciationDear JoleneIt gives me great pleasure to record our appreciation for the extraordinary effort that you went to in saving the life of a six year old girl on Sunday the 4th of February 2018.That day you were at the Kleinmond lagoon with your family. It just so happened that you were sitting on the beach side of the bridge when a child came running up to your group saying someone had drowned. You noticed the commotion and went over to investigate.There, lying unresponsively on the sand, was a little girl about the same age as your oldest chilld. Without hesitation you turned her on her side, in the recovery position, and water came out of her mouth. By coincidence, earlier in the week, you had read your father’s first aid book that he had brought home from work. And despite not remembering exactly how to do CPR you decided to try. You pushed hard on her chest twice and then gave her two rescue breaths. This procedure you repeated a number of times. It was not long before you were rewarded with the child showing signs of life.Bystanders had called for an ambulance but it had not arrived and you decided to scoop the little girl up and take her to hospital.A friend drove the car while you held the child in your arms. The first stop that you made was at the local Doctors’ rooms. But there was nobody on duty. You then ran to the nearby clothing store and they called Emergency Medical Response, who by coincidence were only a minute away.The EMR ambulance crew requested Paramedic back up to meet them en route to the hospital and advanced life support was administered before the crew got the patient to hospital.The little girl made a full recovery and was discharged from hospital the next day. Were it not for your bravery and determination to try and help, despite not being sure of what to do, the outcome may not have been the same.As I always tell our Sea Rescue volunteers “It is better to do something than nothing.” Congratulations on saving the life of a child. There can be no better gift than the gift of life.With best wishes,Dr Cleeve RobertsonCEO

Jaco Stemmet awarded with a Chief Executive Officer's Letter of AppreciationDear JacoIt gives me great pleasure to record our appreciation for the part that you played in the Rescue of 25 year old Mr D. N. Dunn in the early evening of the 17th September 2017.Station 17 was busy with a drowning at Hawston when they received a second call at 18:20 for a drowning at Kleinmond main beach. They completed their operation at Hawston and the Rescue Vehicle immediately headed out to Kleinmond. A member of the public had reported a person was in trouble in the water and that he was still visible but not sure if he was still alive. Station 17’s Duty Crew reported what then transpired:On arrival it was found that Jaco Stemmet from Overstrand Fire & Rescue had had donned his wetsuit and PFD, entered the water and swam to the person who was approximately 150m from shore. He struggled to reach the person due to a very strong rip current and swells of 3 meters. Jaco eventually reached the casualty who was very weak at that stage and was seen to disappear under the water twice. On reaching the casualty, Jaco managed to secure the casualty to a floatation buoy before making his way back to the beach with the casualty. After again fighting the rip current and swells he managed to get the casualty to shallow water where he was assisted by a member of the public and the NSRI rescue swimmers on scene.NSRI then secured the patient and immediately began with hypothermia treatment as the casualty was barely conscious and very cold. He was taken to the NSRI vehicle for further treatment while waiting for the Metro EMS ambulance to arrive. As soon as the ambulance arrived he was handed into the care of Metro EMS where he was further treated for hypothermia and taken to hospital where he made a full recovery.If it was not for the quick actions of Jaco Stemmet, the casualty Mr Dunn would definitely have drowned. Jaco continues to work alongside NSRI Station 17 on a regular basis with callouts in the Betties Bay and the Kleinmond area.Jaco Stemmet, you are to be commended for your quick thinking and bravery because by your intervention, a life was saved that day.With best wishes,Dr Cleeve RobertsonCEO

Athenkosi Dlavuza awarded with a Chief Executive Officer's Letter of AppreciationDear AthenkosiIt gives me great pleasure to record our appreciation for the part that you played in the Rescue of 15 year old Brian Masimba on 11th of January 2018.The Station Commander Deon Langenhoven received a call from Marine Coastal Management reporting a drowning in progress at the new harbour in Hermanus. Children from Hermanus swim in the harbour on a daily basis and 15 year old Brian Masimba, a Zimbabwean National living in Zwelihle Hermanus, disappeared under the water at 14:05.The crew were activated and on arrival at the new harbour found the casualty had been recovered from the water by a bystander, 23 year old Athenkosi Dlavuza, also from White City in Zwelihle. The casualty was not breathing when he was taken out of the water and Athenkosi immediately started chest compressions. He was then joined by trainee NSRI crew member Ray Mugwede who assisted him in administering CPR.Eventually Athenkosi managed to get Brian Masimba breathing again and by that time the NSRI crew had arrived on scene. They took Brian to the NSRI Station where he was stabilized until Metro EMS arrived and transported to hospital where he made a full recovery.On Saturday afternoon the 13th January 2018 Deon Langenhoven, Station Commander Station 17, had the honour to meet Athenkosi. He came down to the Station wanting to join NSRI to learn more. He explained that Brain was the 3rd child that he had rescued in the new harbour and that he had taught himself how to perform CPR through watching television but he wanted to learn how to do it correctly. Athenkosi has now applied to join Station 17 Hermanus.Athenkosi Dlavuza, you are to be commended for your quick thinking and bravery because by your intervention, a life was saved that day.With best wishes,Dr Cleeve RobertsonCEO