Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSCHOOLSSevenoaks School acquires Pool Extraction Board

Sevenoaks School acquires Pool Extraction Board

The Sennocke Centre at Sevenoaks School has recently acquired the new Pool Extraction Board (PXB) for simpler and more efficient swimming pool rescues.

The board has been developed and designed by the Royal Lifesaving Society UK and equipment specialist Ferno UK, with the new PXB now available for pools and sports centres throughout the country to improve their overall safety.

The exciting and revolutionary new piece of rescue equipment gives lifeguards more options when extracting casualties from swimming pools. Suitable for use in all pools from deck level to freeboard, shallow water to deep water, the new design using Velcro straps and head blocks means rescues can be accomplished quicker and more easily than with existing rescue boards.

“It is fantastic to be able to work with such established equipment, something that is now available to all leisure facilities and will enable users to prioritise casualties and conduct safer pool extractions with less staff and simpler training techniques,” says Jim Hawkins, Operations Manager and Training Assessor & Coordinator at the Sports Centre.

The Sennocke centre has a 6 – lane, 25m competition pool, which is utilised solely for a training aspect, from usage of the pupils at Sevenoaks School, to those of external hirers and elite competitors, in addition, it is open to its membership base.

With this in mind, and the amount of usage involved, just two lifeguards can carry out a pool rescue using the PXB instead of the traditional four, leaving other members of the team free to monitor other pool users and perform key roles in a rescue situation. A rescue using the new Pool Extraction Board can be accomplished in as little as 90 seconds. This means that involvement for centres who have small numbers of staff, are able to perform rescues in all types of situations, and not just in the pool environment, as it can be used for spinal injuries elsewhere away from the water, such as the rugby field for example.

Tracy Hardcastle, Sennocke Centre Manager, who has herself used the board, commented; “Many leisure operators are aware of the increasing national shortfall of lifeguards committing to the industry at this time, yet fluctuating staffing levels should not lead to a compromise in the safe operation of pools. The two-man operated PXB board has therefore been long awaited, and it hasn’t disappointed. It has enabled us to advance safety even further.

“I have been delighted with the interest other leisure centres have shown in the board, and we have extended an invitation to their staff to attend our training sessions to try it out for themselves and take back their findings to their own organisations.”

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