ISLA Sends Seventeen Lifeguards to Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic and Saves Ninety-Nine Lives

April 23, 2012 - PRLog -- Founded in 2008, ISLA is a charitable organization comprised of volunteer lifeguards. The charity’s mission is to reduce the number of drownings worldwide by building a sustainable culture of water safety.

In celebration of the Semana Santa holiday, a four-day Easter celebration, thousands of citizens and tourists flock to the beaches. Unfortunately, a large non-swimming population, alcohol, treacherous ocean conditions, and a lack of lifeguard services have historically combined to form a dangerous and deadly week.

In Nicaragua, ISLA launched its first ever Open Water Lifeguard Course during the Easter Holiday. The course included a First Aid and CPR practical exam, physical instruction, written test, and a non-buoy and buoy rescue practical exam. Twenty-five lifeguard trainees completed the rigorous training course and received Basic ISLA Lifeguard Certification.

In the Dominican Republic, ISLA offered four one-day basic lifeguard workshops to students from the DREAM Project in Cabarete, La Federación Dominicana de Surfing- Fedosurf, staff from Viva Tangerine in Cabarete, and to instructors from LEK Kite School.

Over their four days of work, the teams of ISLA volunteers and local Nicaraguans and Dominicans rescued ninety-nine people, performed medical aids for twelve people, and saved another four hundred and forty-six people with preventative actions.  

Organizations that made ISLA’s work possible are the Quiksilver Foundation, Auto Accident Refund, Inc., Boardworks Rescue Division, Marine Rescue Products, and the National Christian Foundation. With their help, and the help of our donors, ISLA was able to donate over $3,000 of Lifesaving equipment to Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

“ISLA is an organization comprised of volunteers, and our actions would not be possible if it weren’t for our sponsors and donors,” said ISLA’s President and Course Instructor, Henry Reyes. “The training we offered and the equipment we donated to the Nicaraguans and the Dominicans empowers them to develop their lifesaving techniques and continue to save countless lives.”

To learn more about ISLA, please visit the website at http://www.islasurf.org or the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ISLAsurf.