The first of Surf Life Saving WA’s Surf Alert Modules (SAM) has been installed at Clayton’s Beach (Mindarie South) to undergo extensive testing over the coming months before additional units will be rolled out at select locations along the WA coast.
The development of the Surf Alert Module was driven by the desire to use technology to create a sustainable approach to improving coastal safety, primarily at locations with minimal to no existing lifesaving services.
With support from the Federal Government’s ‘Saving Lives in the Water’ program, SLSWA worked with an experienced security and technology business to take an existing product and enhance it to develop a “virtual” lifesaver.
The Module has been designed to provide beach users with real-time warning and safety messages relative to hazards and risks at that specific beach location, ultimately leading to improved decision-making and behaviours.
SLSWA, with the assistance of an experienced security and technology organisation, has developed Surf Alert to:
- Leverage advancements in security and surveillance technology commonly seen in the community and widely used by a variety of industries.
- Have scalable functionality that can easily be integrated into WA’s broader coastal safety strategy.
- Integrate into existing SLSWA systems and applications and those of other key stakeholder groups.
- Provide improved coverage, cost, and capability of cellular connectivity.
- Operate within existing public coastal safety initiatives such as Beach Emergency Numbers (BEN) and other shark warning and public security systems.
