Fifty-nine-year-old David Field is a volunteer lifesaver with Surf Life Saving Australia.  Since 2014 he has provided training courses on rescue techniques for members of the Danang Beach Surf Life Saving Club of the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Tourism Beaches (STPTBMB).

Mr Field has 35 years of experience as a professional lifeguard, and he helps the club’s lifeguards to improve their lifesaving skills up to international standard.  During the courses, trainees learn how to use surfboards in rescues, first aid, and advanced care for drowning victims.  They also have the opportunity to practise their surfing and lifesaving skills under the supervision of Mr Field in the early mornings at a local beach.

The Australian volunteer has also spent some of his spare time providing free English courses for the lifeguards and security guards who are on duty at the local beaches.

Mr David Field (yellow T-shirt)

The Deputy Head of the STPTBMB, Mr Nguyen Duc Vu, spoke highly of the great efforts of Mr Field in training local lifeguards and sending them to other countries to compete in international lifesaving competitions.  Thanks to this, participants have the opportunity to learn from the professional rescue experience of international friends, and promote the beauty of Da Nang’s beaches to them.

Last year, Mr Field arranged for 2 local lifeguards to have 2-week lifesaving scholarships in Malaysia to help them access the international training programmes.  He has recently helped the STPTBMB sign cooperation agreements with 10 beach surf life saving clubs from Australia.  Under the agreements, the Australian clubs will donate rescue equipment to Da Nang in March this year which will including rescue surfboards, float clamps, cardio machines, and breathing aids.

Mr Field (1st right) and some colleagues at a local beach

When the kind-hearted volunteer first visited Da Nang in 2014, he offered free self-rescue swimming classes for children who were vacationing with their parents at the Furama Resort Da Nang.  He found that the swimming skills of children in Da Nang, and in Viet Nam as a whole, are not as good as those from countries like Australia and Thailand.  The reason seems to be that Vietnamese schools do not pay enough attention to offering swimming classes for their pupils. 

Mr Field and the STPTBMB are aiming to organise swimming classes at My Khe Beach to help more local children improve their swimming skills.  In addition, they are planning together to appeal for more funds from the Australian government to help them implement a swimming project for children in communes across Hoa Vang District.  If successful, the project will take place during this summer.