Two new after-hours shark bite kits have been installed at Coogee and Maroubra beaches through a partnership between Randwick City and Surfing NSW, placing life-saving trauma equipment within reach of swimmers, snorkellers and ocean users outside lifeguard patrol hours.
At Coogee, the rescue tube and trauma kit are located on the south wall next to the Coogee Beach Rainbow Walkway, a landmark that most regular beach users know well. The installation means that anyone at the beach after hours now has immediate access to emergency equipment without needing to search for it in a moment of crisis. For a beach as popular and as well-loved as Coogee, that accessibility carries real weight.
What the Kits Contain and Where to Find Them
Each shark bite kit contains a tourniquet, dressings and bandages, a thermal blanket and a simple instruction card. The kits focus on controlling life-threatening blood loss in the crucial minutes between a shark attack and the arrival of professional medical help, and the simple instruction card empowers any bystander to provide immediate assistance, even without prior first aid training.
Alongside the kit sits a rescue tube, a buoyant foam device that keeps a person afloat in the water during a rescue. The combination of the two pieces of equipment addresses both the in-water and on-shore phases of an emergency, providing bystanders with the tools to act from the moment an incident occurs until ambulance crews arrive on scene.
The kits are supplied by Community Shark Bite Kits, a not-for-profit initiative that has now installed kits at more than 120 beaches across Australia. The Coogee installation brings this national program to one of Sydney’s most visited beaches for the first time.
After-Hours Safety at an Unpatrolled Beach
The kits are specifically designed to fill the gap outside lifeguard patrol hours, a period when beaches remain in constant use but professional emergency response is not immediately on hand. Lifeguard patrols at Coogee operate from 7am to 7pm during daylight saving and from 7am to 5pm during winter and non-daylight saving periods. Outside those windows, ocean users at Coogee have no on-site professional response available, and the shark bite kit and rescue tube on the south wall next to the Rainbow Walkway become the primary emergency resources on hand.
Coogee draws early morning swimmers, open water athletes and evening walkers throughout the year, many of whom enter the water before or after patrol hours. Having trauma equipment permanently installed and accessible at the south wall addresses that reality in a way that patrol hours alone cannot.
Why This Matters to Coogee
Coogee’s relationship with ocean safety stretches back more than a century, and the beach’s community has always taken coastal preparedness seriously. The shark bite kit and rescue tube now join an existing suite of safety infrastructure at Randwick City beaches that includes CCTV, emergency response beacons and a publicly accessible defibrillator at Coogee, reinforcing a comprehensive approach to keeping the coastline safe for all users at all hours.
All beach users are encouraged to note the location of the kit and rescue tube on the south wall next to the Coogee Beach Rainbow Walkway before entering the water. In any emergency, the first call should always be to 000.
Published 23-March-2026.
