A vital emergency service with outdated systems

Surf Life Saving Northern Region (SLSNR) covers the largest surf lifesaving region in New Zealand, supporting 17 surf clubs from Raglan to the Far North. Throughout the summer months these lifeguards protect New Zealanders by carrying out surf rescues, while also assisting with medical events such as bee stings and heart attacks.

SLSNR funding is allocated to clubs based on beach users and incident levels; data which is collected via incident forms. The paper system relied on lifeguards filling forms at the end of shifts to capture information from incidents throughout the day.

SLSNR wanted an application that enabled fast and accurate data collection with a simple User Interface to optimise the user input experience. The application needed to automate as many fields as possible while maintaining data integrity, and introduce new data fields not available on paper forms, including images, weather conditions and water quality.

Seeing opportunities in the scope

Digitising paper forms was the primary objective of the project, however Calo identified the opportunity to capture more data and connect to SurfCom, the SLSNR communication and co-ordination headquarters at the Auckland Marine Rescue Centre, in real time.

Calo’s proposal was to create electronic and dynamic forms, connected to an online, secure database, forming a powerful data repository for real time and historical data analysis. The data would be presented in real time on a customisable dashboard where “by exception” reporting or user generated reports can be generated by specific users.

Understanding processes from the beach to the coordination centre

User uptake was critical to the success of the project, so designing an application that could easily be used by everyone from teenage rookies to experienced veteran lifeguards was crucial. Calo held a workshop employing User Journey Mapping to understand how incidents occurred on the beach and the SLSNR response.

This process informed the design, but also gave SLSNR greater insight into their own processes. To ensure the process captured was accurate for each stage, the workshop included representatives from throughout the organisation, including the lifeguards who work on the beach, operations managers and the head of the SLSNR board. From this workshop Calo developed the incident recording process.

Creating Patrol App

Patrol App gives SLSNR power to capture a greater quantity and quality of data and creates capacity at SurfCom for critical response operations. This digital solution allows for real time data collection while digitising outdated and inefficient paper processes.

Freeing up radio availability

The previous system saw lifeguards across the 17 beaches radio in beach user headcounts to SurfCom every hour. Crew at each beach now enter this data into Patrol App and SurfCom receives it in real time, freeing up the radio channel for more critical traffic, such as emergency response.

Managing staff levels

SLSNR lifeguards are volunteers and while there are rosters, the members actually on the beach during the day can change. Under the previous system lifeguards manually signed in and out, and this information was logged at the end of the day.

Lifeguards now sign in on Patrol App, so SurfCom has a real time overview of how many lifeguards are at each beach and their skills and experience. If beach user head counts coming through are high but lifeguard numbers are low, SurfCom can work to get more crew on the beach.

Including skills, qualifications and experience in the lifeguard data provides Surfcom with rich information to make operational decisions throughout the day. Each beach needs an IRB driver on the beach, personnel with certain levels of medical training, and there are limitations according to age - limiting lifeguards under 18 from attending fatalities.

In early beta testing an incident occurred shortly after crews had left for the day. SurfCom could see who had been on duty, were able to make contact and quickly direct them back to the beach.

Incident recording

Patrol App enables lifeguards on the beach and in the tower to record incidents as they occur. Pre-set options, such as incident type and common beach locations, streamline the process. If the location isn’t included in the pre-sets, users can drop a location pin and fill out further details. If an entry is started and the user is required to join a rescue, it can be completed later in the day. Incidents come through to SurfCom via the live feed and will be used to collate data and statistics throughout the season.

Beach conditions

The app draws information on beach conditions, from other providers, to display on the user dashboard and allows users to enter additional data on conditions.

Operating in a disconnected environment

For data to be collected in real time devices need to be connected to a network. Connectivity across beaches in the region is inconsistent, so the application architecture ensures it works offline and will back up once connected. Although these beaches can’t provide real time data it ensures it is still accurately collected and contributes to overall data collection.