Surfers and survivors call for life-saving Shark Bite Kits on all Aussie beaches
Surfers and shark attack survivors are calling for government or corporate funding to roll out life-saving emergency response kits across all Australian beaches.
The Community Shark Bite Kits, designed to help control life-threatening bleeding, were designed by Danny Schouten, after his friend Kai McKenzie almost died from being bitten by a shark while surfing in Port Macquarie in 2024.
“It was by the grace of a man… walking his dog on the beach that day, who was trained in trauma control and used his dog lead to save Kai’s life,” Schouten said.
“And I thought, we need to have one of these kits on every one of our beaches so it’s not left up to chance next time.”
Ten kits were initially rolled out in northern NSW last year and now there’s 150 on beaches across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
The inexpensive kits contain a tourniquet, two conforming bandages, two large dressings, an emergency thermal blanket, gloves, a whistle and step-by-step instructions on how to treat a shark bite.
