9.2 Lost or Missing Persons

Purpose

To provide operational guidance for responding to lost or missing persons within or adjacent to patrol areas.

Overview

Lost or missing person incidents require prompt assessment, coordinated response actions, effective information gathering, and early notification to the State Operations Centre (SOC).

Patrol Captains, Senior Lifeguards, and operational personnel should undertake dynamic risk assessments and consider the likelihood of the person being in or near the water when determining operational priorities and response requirements.

Search activities should prioritise member safety, scene management, witness management, and rapid escalation where required.

The State Operations Centre (SOC) should be notified as soon as reasonably practicable following identification of a lost or missing person incident. Full information gathering is not required prior to initial notification.

Procedure

Initial Actions

Upon identification of a lost or missing person incident, patrol personnel should:

1. Confirm the location where the person was last seen.
2. Obtain an initial description of the missing person.
3. Assess the likelihood of the person being in or near the water.
4. Determine any immediate threats to life or safety.
5. Notify the Patrol Captain, Senior Lifeguard, or operational leader immediately.
6. Notify the State Operations Centre (SOC) as soon as reasonably practicable.
7. Consider requesting emergency services assistance where appropriate.
8. Commence initial search actions where safe and operationally appropriate.

Information Gathering

Where practicable, the following information should be obtained and recorded:

• Last reported position,
• Name, age, and description of the person,
• Clothing description,
• General description (height, build, race, identifying features),
• Likelihood of being in or near the water,
• Swimming ability,
• Flotation devices or equipment associated with the person,
• Location of clothes, towels, bags, or property,
• Relevant medical, behavioural, or welfare considerations,
• Whether the person is distressed, vulnerable, non-local, or has a disability,
• Time last seen,
• Direction of travel if known,
• Witness details and observations,
• Witness contact details, and
• Any photographs available where appropriate.

Witnesses should be requested to remain at the incident location where practicable.

Witnesses should also be advised that police may contact them for additional information and that they should remain contactable by phone where possible.

Search and Response Actions

Search actions should be based on:

• The likelihood of the person being in the water,
• Prevailing surf and environmental conditions,
• Time since last sighting,
• Available resources,
• Witness information, and
• Direction from the State Operations Centre (SOC) or emergency services.

Operational actions may include:

• Establishing a search area,
• Conducting shoreline or water searches,
• Utilising elevated observation positions,
• Deploying rescue boards, IRBs, drones, or other assets,
• Coordinating with adjacent patrols or services,
• Restricting public access where appropriate,
• Maintaining scene preservation where required, and
• Escalating to Police or emergency services.

Search activities must not compromise patrol safety or place members at unacceptable risk.

Coordination with the State Operations Centre (SOC)

The State Operations Centre (SOC) should be updated as additional information becomes available.

The SOC may:

• Coordinate additional Surf Life Saving resources,
• Notify emergency services,
• Coordinate operational communications,
• Support search planning and escalation, and
• Maintain incident logging and situational awareness.

Incident Conclusion

Once the person has been located or the incident has been handed over to another agency:

• Relevant operational logs and reporting systems should be completed,
• Significant operational information should be recorded,
• Any welfare concerns should be escalated appropriately, and
• Patrol personnel should participate in operational debriefing where required.

Critical incidents should be managed in accordance with:

• SOP 15.2 – Critical Incident Debriefing

References

• Public Safety and Aquatic Rescue Training Manual, 35th Edition
• Silver Medallion Patrol Captain
• Silver Medallion Aquatic Rescue