Lucky rescue during lifeguard training exercise
Valentia Coast Guard provided helicopter assistance on a chance rescue as a man is spotted during a British Royal Navy Lifeguard training exercise
A British Royal Navy Lifeguard Institution training exercise at 09:00am fortuitously chanced upon an exhausted casualty being repeatedly swept back off the rocks on a coast of Ireland, and began a interdisciplinary rescue with multiple rescue services.
The Old Head Coast Guard and Kinsale Garda provided assistance, and Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 115 was tasked from the nearby town of Shannon, where the casualty was winched onboard and taken for further treatment.
Serendipitous
Lifeboat helm Jonathan Connor said: “He is a very lucky man as [lifeguard crewman] David spotted him by pure coincidence […] We were all relieved that we decided to train in that area this morning, and that we were able to work with the other emergency services to bring the casualty to safety.”
Khai Trung Le
Khai Trung Le is Editor of AirMed&Rescue. He is an experienced science writer, having previously been embedded in Cardiff University College of Physical Sciences, Innovate UK research council, and the UK Institute of Material Sciences. His writing can also be found on Star Trek and Vice.