In 2002 the RNLI operated 43 Beach Rescue units and Beach Rescue lifeguards saved 22 lives. Across the South West they dealt with 867 major incidents. These figures are impressive, but statistics don't tell the whole story. To find out what really happens at Beach Rescue stations, Bethany Rawles visited Weymouth and Perranporth to get first-hand information and to see the lifeguards in actionCarrick Beach Rescue Visitors to Cornwall beaches are often struck by the sheer scale of Perranporth and Perran Sands. They form a dramatic 3-mile stretch of sandy beach, bordered by craggy cliffs. Surfers travel from all over Britain to catch the waves and on a very sunny day there can be up to 20,000 people on the beach and in the water. The two beaches are part of the Carrick Beach Rescue area, the busiest of the seven RNLI Beach Rescue areas. Greg Spray and Martin Ward from Carrick Beach Rescue tell us about their jobs.

Greg Spray, area lifeguard manager Greg first came to Cornwall from Australia on a working holiday in 1979. With a background in surfing, swimming and surf life saving. Greg has worked on the Carrick beaches for about 20 seasons.

He worked his way up to managerial beach positions for the district council, but he has never forgotten his surfing and lifeguarding roots. Greg has worked on all the Carrick beaches and built up relationships with local businesses and the people that use those beaches.

With all this experience Greg was an ideal person for the job of area lifeguard manager when Beach Rescue was first set up in 2001.

'You're really looking now at potentially one of the best lifeguarding services that you would find anywhere in the world' Greg praises the work of the council over the years: 'They've done a good job on limited resources.' He believes the RNLI has made a real difference to beach safety: 'You're really looking now at potentially one of the best lifeguarding services that you would find anywhere in the world.' Greg explained that the new RNLI equipment will save lives and that their jobs benefit from 'professional and extensive training'.

Greg supports the RNLI volunteer ethos and welcomes volunteers at busy times, but he stresses the need for a dedicated lifeguarding service: 'You can't expect people to come down and be voluntary seven days a week, eight hours a day, every day for a season.' For years life saving clubs have done weekend voluntary patrols on beaches, but this has been dwindling in recent years.

Unlike the lifeguards themselves, Greg works through the whole year. From February to mid-May he's busy recruiting and implementing the training programme for the 50 lifeguards needed on the seven Carrick beaches. During the lifeguarding season (1 May to 30 September) he keeps things running smoothly and then he packs away for winter, collates statistics and writes reports. By the time all this is completed, it's time to start preparing for the next season. He comments: 'You never quite leave this job. It's such a community-based activity - surfing is the hub of the Carrick beach community.' Carrick Beach Rescue has 'an excellent working relationship' with St Agnes lifeboat station, united by a love of surfing.

Several members of St Agnes lifeboat work as beach lifeguards. Greg thinks that being in the same RNLI operations department also helps: 'When it's too much for us we can call the lifeboat in. We can back them up, but we can basically get back to what we need to do - guarding between the flags.' Beach Rescue also works closely with the Coastguard. Greg has been involved intraining exercises with both the Coastguard and lifeboats, so that they are ready for any major services.

An exciting development at Perranporth is the building of a new operations room that will be used as the CPC (central point of contact) for Carrick. Greg is delighted: 'It will supply a much-needed structure to this beach.' A new area office/store and workshop are also being built at Perranporth. As well as improving operations, these facilities will provide a professional environment for Greg and the Carrick lifeguards that matches the quality of their work.

Martin Ward, lifeguard supervisor Martin was born and raised in St Agnes. He got involved with the surf life saving clubs at an early age and, like most of the Carrick lifeguards, he has a background in surfing, Surfers have got the water skills essential for life saving at Carrick, although Martin stresses that surf skills alone do not make a good lifeguard. He lists the wide variety of qualities that lifeguards need: fitness, people skills, surf and sea awareness, the ability to adapt and react to situations quickly, and to work well as a team.

Many lifeguards are very experienced and they come back year after year - there are 37 returning lifeguards out of 50 in Carrick this year. Martin has been a lifeguard for 20 years now. Out of season he has done a variety of jobs including building work and surfboard manufacturing. As well as actual lifeguarding, Martin has responsibilities as one of three lifeguard supervisors in Carrick. He works out what training the lifeguards need on different beaches and also arranges joint training sessions with the Coastguard and lifeboats.

Martin has noticed a real difference in lifeguarding since 2001: 'In the last couple of years beach lifeguarding has really changed ... it's more professional.' He also praises the RNLI technical department: 'The back up service is incredible - the equipment is only as good as whoever's running it.' 'In the last couple of years beach lifeguarding has really changed ...

it's more professional' A typical day for the lifeguards at Chapel Forth, Holywell Bay and Porthtowan beaches would be for one lifeguard to be in a patrol vehicle, one on water patrol on a rescue board or an inshore rescue boat, with another at the base. They take turns doing different patrols. Most incidents are weever fish stings and minor first aid, but there were 45 major incidents within Carrick in 2002. Much of a lifeguard's time and effort go into preventing accidents. It would be impossible to keep track of how many times lifeguards like Martin give advice to the public. Steve Instance, Beach Rescue communications manager, estimates that: 'Prevention is 90% of a lifeguard's work. Incident figures don't show the tens of thousands of times lifeguards give public advice, potentially saving lives.' Martin loves his job, particularly the healthy lifestyle that goes with it, but he hates it when there's a red flag up due to bad conditions 'because you can't do your job'.

Weymouth Beach Rescue The Beach Rescue unit in Weymouth is very different to Carrick. There's rarely much surf and it is a much smaller area to cover. Weymouth beach itself can get just as busy as the Carrick beaches, but it is a relatively safe beach. Weymouth tends to not have so many serious injuries in the water, although offshore winds are a hazard, especially to those with inflatables.

There are two lifeguard stations, one at Weymouth beach and one at Greenhill.

The lifeguarding season runs from 1 May to 30 September, but as Greenhill isn't as popular as Weymouth, the lifeguards there only cover the school summer holidays.

Matt Horton and Ed Stevens describe what goes on at Weymouth Beach Rescue.

Matt Horton, area lifeguard manager Matt has worked on Weymouth beach for over a decade, and has been a qualified lifeguard for six years. He used to work for Beach Control, run by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, dealing with beach safety, deckchairs and special events.

His local knowledge and experience are vital in his current job: 'Having worked on the beach for so long, I know it intimately and have a good understanding of the type of problems we are likely to experience.' Matt works throughout the year and is based at Poole in the winter months. His job follows a similar pattern to Greg's.Matt describes his role: 'My job is to ensure that the Weymouth lifeguard service runs smoothly and efficiently, and to the levels we declare to the Coastguard, the ambulance service etc.' In the first two years of Beach Rescue, Matt had trouble recruiting, as people hadn't heard of Beach Rescue. Also, the qualification needed to become a lifeguard (NARS) not available locally until recently, so qualified lifeguards at Weymouth were rare. Now there are 12 lifeguards at Weymouth and Matt is pleased to see a very high return rate of last year's lifeguards.

A large part of Matt's job is to maintain relationships with other agencies including the lifeboat station, the Coastguard, and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

The British Canoe Union (BCD) beach lifeguards have been on Weymouth beach for 30 years and Matt is keen to give the volunteers the respect they deserve: 'We step back at weekends, operationally, and BCD patrol and handle communications with the Coastguard and everything like that. We just have a core service here at weekends and we can act as a back up with high standard kit.' 'Because I'm down here in the huts I see how the guys are working and anything we need to change or improve' As well as his management responsibilities, Matt also lifeguards as part of the Beach Rescue team and he thinks that it helps him do his job better 'Because I'm down here in the huts I see how the guys are working and anything we need to change or improve.1 As Weymouth is one of the smaller areas Beach Rescue covers, Matt gets extra projects to work on, such as trialling new equipment.

He organised the rescue watercraft (jet ski) trials in Newquay last year and comments: 'I really enjoy that side of things. I like being operational and still running this, but it gives me more diversity.' Ed Stevens, beach lifeguard Ed Stevens has been involved in lifesaving since he was 14, when he got a part-time job at a swimming pool. He described his old work as: 'Enjoyable, but it gets to the stage when you get into a routine in a small pool.

Every day's different on the beach.' Ed prefers working outdoors and interacting with the public. He says the lifeguards have a good relationship with the Weymouth residents: 'The locals are very helpful. Usually they help you clear the crowd in an emergency. They know the lifeguards are here to help.' It is Ed's second year of Beach Rescue lifeguarding, after getting the NARS qualification in 2002 through the RNLI. Out of season Ed is a competitive swimmer and has worked for Halfords. This year he hopes to go to Australia and work as a lifeguard as part of the lifeguard exchange programme.

Two lifeguards from Weymouth went East year and one Australian came to Weymouth.

There's a healthy exchange of ideas and as Steve Instance says: 'Beach Rescue are world leaders in some things, but there are other areas where we can learn.' 'They know the lifeguards are here to help' Medical training is particularly important at Weymouth this year, as the lifeguards have become the first responders for Dorset ambulance. This means that if there is a 999 call in the Beach Rescue area, the lifeguards are called on to be the first to attend. So all Weymouth lifeguards are trained to a very high standard and have the FPOS (first person on the scene) qualification.

Apart from these medical skills, Ed says the most important qualities for a lifeguard are fitness, sense of humour and the ability to communicate with the public. Ed has dealt with a wide variety of incidents from a pregnant woman fainting from a weaverfish sting, to an intoxicated drug user waving a needle around.

At Weymouth on a busy summer's day, there is usually one lifeguard on a high chair and regular shoreline, board and boat patrols.

They often warn people with inflatables about the dangerous offshore winds, in the hope of preventing accidents.

Part of Ed's job involves paperwork.

Luckily, they don't have to fill in a form every time they advise the public, but they do have a daily log. They record their general activities, weather conditions, any equipment defects and incidents. This information justifies the risk assessment done before the start of operations and ensures they'll be back making the beach safer the following season..