NFC identity wristbands to aid surf safety

The start of the 2014/15 nippers seasons has seen wearable technology provider Safe Mate launch a pilot program with the Manly Life Saving Club to make Sydney’s Manly Beach the safest in Australia.

The initiative will see Manly Life Saving Club’s nippers be among the first people in the world to use a new information wristband that can identify somebody following an emergency.

Allowing first responders to quickly identify someone and access their medical information and emergency contact details in a rescue situation, SafeMate’s NFC (nearfield communication) enabled wristbands have been provided to the Club’s existing and incoming nippers

First responders can use the associated phone app to scan and read information from the wristbands – with the information being accessible through the Safe Mate Public App, available on Android devices, which allows users with NFC-enabled smartphones to access the information.

Club General Manager Marc Manion is thrilled the Club’s nippers are part of the pilot program for the wristbands, stating “we are deeply indebted to Safe Mate for providing nippers with a free source of emergency contact access.

“If somebody gets knocked over or falls over, or they can’t talk then they have that information.”

Manion added that while it would not be compulsory for nippers to wear the bands, he recommended to parents that their children should use them.

Safe Mate founder Ewan Le Bourhis, an IT engineer, came up with the idea when he almost knocked himself out while surfing. He realised he didn’t have any identification with him at the time, so it would have been difficult for those trying to help him to work out who he was, and if he had any specific medical conditions that needed to be taken into account when he was being treated.

The pilot program followed a successful Pozible campaign earlier this year and saw hundreds of nippers provided with the wristbands, and the Manly Life Saving Club received the professional app, mobile device and training from the Start Mate team.

Bourhis explains “we’re starting with Manly but the aim is to be in every lifesaving club in Australia.

“(The technology is also) for anyone that’s going to the beach. Safe Mate is basically an online platform where you can put whatever you want online, and this info is linked with something physical.”

The NSW Government has announced that its Surf Club Facility Grant Program is now open for applications.

Funding of $2 million is available for the grant program and the development of a strategic facility plan for surf clubs.

Types of projects that will be funded include:

• Construction of new surf club facilities
• Capital enhancement of the facilities at existing clubs
• Providing ancillary and support facilities at existing venues such as amenities blocks

Click here for information on applications.

Applications must be submitted by 17th October 2014.

Click here for information on Safe Mate.

Images courtesy of Safe Mate.