Shark attack first aid kit installed at Margaret River surf beach amid push to broaden use across WA

Keith Halnan, who ordered a shark attack kit for his local beach, wants to encourage more safety measures. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur)

When Margaret River local Keith Halnan heard shark attack kits were being introduced on beaches along Australia's east coast, he questioned why they were not being explored in the west.

"We've got the BEN (Beach Emergency Number) signs … so why couldn't we put something at those signs where we have something for drownings and promoting safety for shark attacks?" he asked.

Mr Halnan believed that with a growing population and more tourists visiting the South West every year, more safety measures were needed on local beaches.

"We can't have patrols on every beach, and they [surf rescue] can't be there 24/7 all around the year," he said.

In addition to shark response kits, Mr Halnan said more emergency response equipment needed to be available to members of the public.

"We've had drownings at Contos, Redgate beach and [more recently] at Honeycombs, and we have a lot of international tourists here and world-class heavy water with big surf stretches between the two capes," he said.

"A tourniquet for shark attacks, snakebite bandages, stop-the-bleed bandages, and also a surf rescue tube … there's a definite need for something like that on our beaches."

Government open to additional resources

Fisheries Minister Don Punch said the government would be willing to work with local communities if demand was identified.

He cited a recent trial in Esperance that provided important information to the government.

"Just putting emergency kits onto beaches without any community support means we don't know whether those community kits would be maintained," he said.

"You do need to have an organisation that is skilled in the application of those kits and can provide information to the local community into how they're managed."

David Rutter, who runs a surf school in Ballina and a business dedicated to providing shark response kits, recently delivered one of his kits to Mr Halnan in Margaret River.

Mr Rutter said his kits were designed to be intuitive so anyone could use them.

"The kits basically have five or six components … the PPE, the tourniquets, hemostatics, splints, emergency evacuation litters, and emergency blankets for trauma-induced hypothermia," he said.

Mr Rutter has been campaigning in and around Ballina in New South Wales for years and has been working with governments to get shark attack response kits on more beaches across the country.

He hoped they would be respected and treated with care in the community.

"They're a lifesaving device, similar to defibrillators, which we actually put in the kits as well, so they are not there to be vandalised," he said.

"If people respect them and learn about them and take a bit of ownership of them as a community, it would be great."

Mr Rutter's kit has been placed at Surfers Point near Prevelly.