A 12-year-old girl is in a critical condition after she was pulled unresponsive from the water at Trigg Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Police received reports of swimmers in distress at the popular beach, in Perth’s north, around 6:30pm on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“On arrival, it was identified that two girls, both age 12, had been caught in a rip and pulled out to sea,” a WA Police spokesperson said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“One of the girls was rescued by a surfer and safely brought back to shore.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Police say the girls, one of them unresponsive, were brought back to shore at Trigg by a surfer. (ABC News: Marcus Alborn – file photo)<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said the second girl was found unresponsive in the water and brought to shore, where police, volunteer lifeguards and two off-duty doctors performed CPR.<\/p>\n
Surf Life Saving WA general manager Chris Peck said a member of the public alerted lifeguards, who were undergoing training on the beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They’re highly trained, they’ve got access to equipment, they were able to respond as quickly as they could, to apply that emergency care that that person needed,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Surf Life Saving volunteers happened to be on the beach when the girls were brought ashore. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)<\/p>\n
Five St John WA ambulances attended the scene, including critical care and special operations crews.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second girl was taken Perth Children’s Hospital where she remains in a critical condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Locals warn of infamous ‘Blue Hole’<\/p>\n
Locals say an area near the reef at Trigg Point, known as the “Blue Hole” can be particularly dangerous to the uninitiated.<\/p>\n
Retired surf life saver Wes Newton, who has been surfing in the area for at least 40 years, said he’s had to pull people out of that area after they got into strife.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Veteran beachgoer and retired surf life saver Wes Newton says he’s previously helped others who got into trouble in rips at Trigg Beach. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)<\/p>\n
“It has a little current there, not over the top, and if people float out with it and don’t panic they can actually stand on a little sand bank further out,” the 78-year-old said.<\/p>\n
“It’s just a dangerous little current that people don’t know about, they’ve got signs up there, they’ve put tape up there occasionally to make people aware but people just don’t know.”<\/p>\n
Kern Routley, 29, is at the beach about three days a week and says conditions can get rough.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kern Routley says Trigg Beach conditions can pose a challenge to inexperienced surfers. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)<\/p>\n
“I was near the reef today and there’s definitely a channel that will just suck you out,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I was holding on to my board with one hand and you can feel the fins just getting pulled out, so I can see how people can get stuck in that for sure.”<\/p>\n
Lifesavers’ plea<\/p>\n