Skills Maintenance Weekend
With the 2024/25 season now upon us, it’s time to ensure your membership and awards are up to date. All members who wish to undertake patrol duties or compete in competitions (at a State or National level), must undertake annual skills maintenance activities to maintain proficiency.
SAVE THE DATE:
Practical Skills Maintenance is being held on Saturday 30/11/24 & Sunday 1/12/24 at the WBSLSC clubhouse.
PLEASE NOTE: All regular awards will be available for requal on the skills maintenance weekend, despite what MT lists in the courses - LSV will hold off officially listing IRBs until after our TAFs are qualified in the new awards.
What is Skills Maintenance?
Skills maintenance is intended to ensure all patrolling lifesavers remain proficient in their skills and display the appropriate knowledge and understanding of the patrol award criteria. All active Lifesavers are required to complete a skills maintenance assessment to show currency in the life saving award/s they hold and wish to retain.
Skills maintenance assessments are necessary to:
• Ensure ongoing proficiency of members in their area
• Maintain the standards of knowledge and expertise of lifesavers
• Satisfy legal and statutory requirements
• Reinforce and maintain our service commitment to the beach-going community
What does Skills Maintenance cover?
Skills maintenance includes practical assessment activities and (for some awards) an online learning/theory component. Skills Maintenance is in place for the awards listed below and should be completed on an annual basis, unless stated otherwise.
**If you would like to know what will be assessed for each award, please visit https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/skills-maintenance-guide
How to Book into a Skills Maintenance Session
Remember to complete the following before booking into a skills maintenance session!
2) Ensure you have a valid WWCC & ADD THE CLUB TO YOUR CARD
4) Book into a practical session (Sessions are now online)
To Book into a Skills Maintenance, please follow the bellow steps:
**If you haven’t done so already, please ensure that you pay your membership before booking into a skills maintenance session. You can do this by going to the Members Portal**
Step 1: Login to the Members Training Portal
Step 2: Click ‘Skills Maintenance’
Step 3: Complete the E-Learning relevant to you (Only complete the awards you are proficient in)
Step 4: Once a green completed box appears, go to ‘Step 2: Book Practical’
Step 5: Find a session for the award you want to requalify and enroll in that session (Use the Course ID to find a session)
**Please Note: All member MUST Book into a practical to be able to participate on the day.
Practical Sessions at Woolamai 2024/25 Season
Woolamai Beach SLSC is running 2 skills maintenance days on the 30th of November and 1st of December. These session will run from 9:30am to 3pm on both days.
Please make sure you book into ONLY 1 session on Member Training Portal for the day that works for you. They are all the same just capped at 25 per session.
**If sessions runs out, more courses will be created.
Saturday - 30/11/2024
When booking into the course, the Course ID can be used to locate the specific date. You only need to book into 1 of these courses:
2037928
2037929
2037930
Sunday 1/12/2024
When booking into the course, the Course ID can be used to locate the specific date. You only need to book into 1 of these courses:
2037931
2037932
2037933
CPR courses
We will be running a CPR course from 8am - 11am on BOTH the Saturday and Sunday of the Skills Maintenance weekend. You need to completely redo your CPR course every 12 months. This is an opportunity to redo your CPR course if you haven’t already this year - you get your CPR course done. If you wish to complete on of these courses, please enrol in one of these course IDs via Member Training Portal:
30/11/24 - 2037926
1/12/24 - 2037927
**You must enrol in a skills maintenance practical session IN ADDITION to this course**
** There is limited places on these courses**
To register for a specific session, try searching by typing the Course ID (as shown in the picture to the right)
NEW IRBC & IRBD COURSES 2024
The new SLSA IRB Crew and IRB Driver training curriculums and award structures have been under development since early 2022. The output is the creation and release of new training and assessment materials, a revised delivery model and several changes to content and techniques.
SKILLS MAINTENANCE FOR CURRENT AWARD HOLDERS:
All current award holders will need to complete/demonstrate theory (eLearning) and practical assessment activities. These activities will be built into the normal skills maintenance process and should be competed ahead of 30 December 2024.
For future skills maintenance, there will be a requirement for all award holders to demonstrate a minimum number of practical hours in an IRB for the 12-month period ahead of skills maintenance each year.
If you hold your IRBC or IRBD and are planning on using these awards in the coming seasons, you must attend a skills maintenance this season to ensure you are current in new course.
These additional activities will extend the duration of skills maintenance activities for this season, please be patient with TAFs as they navigate delivering this new award.
For more information on the 2024 IRB upgrade, please see this LSV circular: https://clubs.lsv.com.au/cdn/storage/documents/3MTLzaTX83R8R6EvL/original/3MTLzaTX83R8R6EvL.pdf
The technical updates on IRB course content can be found in the updated Powercraft Manual: https://www.manula.com/manuals/slsa/irb/9/en/topic/foreword
If need any further assistance please contact chiefinstructor@woolamaibeach.asn.au
First Aid Awards
Advanced Resuscitation Techniques
Please be aware that the completion of ART skills maintenance, does not lead to the issuance of units of competency. In addition to skills maintenance members should undertake award course activities as required by the Australian Resuscitation Council:
• ART (every 3 years)
• CPR (every 12 months)
To learn more about the Advanced Resuscitation Techniques Award click Here.
First Aid
The First Aid award is a Nationally Recognised Qualification that can be utilised outside of Life Saving. Therefore, there is no requirement to requalify this award at our annual Skills Maintenance, however members should undertake award course activities as required every 3 years, and a CPR update course every 12 months in order to maintain proficiency in that award.
To learn more about the First Aid Award click Here.
Resuscitation (CPR)
The Resuscitation award is a Nationally Recognised Qualification that can be utilised outside of Life Saving and is practiced in our annual Skills Maintenance sessions. In order to renew, update your certificate, members should undertake award course activities as required every 12 months in order to maintain proficiency in that qualification.
To learn more about the Resuscitation Award click Here.
Frequently Asked Questions
+ Where to do Skills Maintenance?
Members should aim to complete their annual skills maintenance by attending scheduled sessions advertised by their club. If you wish to partake in a Skills Maintenance session at another club other than Woolamai, please contact training@woolamaibeach.asn.au with the following details: Location of Skills Maintenance, Trainer/Assessor on the day and a picture of your filled in Skills Maintenance Card.
+ When do I have to do Skills Maintenance by?
All patrolling members should complete relevant skills maintenance activities on or before 31 December each year. Members are still able to complete a skills maintenance after this date; however, the member cannot utilise that skill after the expiry until they complete skills maintenance. Any Member completing their proficiency after 31 December shall not be permitted to participate in any SLSA Championship competition until the 1 July in that year (Refer SLSA Policy 5.4).
+ If I have my SRC but am doing Bronze this year, am I required to do Skills Maintenance?
No. You are not required to re-qualify your SRC as the Bronze Medallion supersedes the SRC award.
+ Do I have to re-do my IRBD at Woolamai if I complete skills maintenance at another club?
Yes. There is a significant difference between driving an IRB in the bay, rather than at Woolamai. This Assessment can be done on patrol and you will be required to show our Assessors you are competent in performing the duties of an IRBD in the Woolamai surf.
+ Does the Bronze Requal update my CPR?
No. The Resuscitation (CPR) award MUST be updated every 12 months by undertaking an update course ONLY. The SLSA award CPR is covered under the Bronze Skills Maintenance assessment to show assessors you are competent in performing the required skills, and to pass on any updates that may have occurred since the previous season, however this does not update the unit of competency you get when you first do the qualification (HLTAID009).
+ Does the ART Requal update my ART Award?
No. The Advanced Resuscitation Techniques award MUST be updated every 3 years, and CPR every 12 months by undertaking an update course ONLY. ART is covered under the ART Skills Maintenance assessment to show assessors you are competent in performing the required skills, and to pass on any updates that may have occurred since the previous season, however this does not update the unit of competency you get when you first do the qualification (HLTAID015 + HLTAID009).
+ What do I need to bring to my session?
Please make sure to bring the following to your skills maintenance session:
Bathers/Wetsuit, towel
Lifesaving Cap (Red & Yellow) or Woolamai Cap (Green, Black & White)