Unwell female on passenger boat sparks service call for Teddington RNLI
Unwell female on passenger boat sparks service call for Teddington RNLI
Lifeboats News Release
The volunteer crew of Teddington Lifeboat Station launched at the request of London Coastguard to a female with suspected cardiac issues on board a nearby passenger boat.
At 2:52pm on Wednesday 13th July, the crew of Teddington Lifeboat launched their D-Class to a passenger boat, who had reported that a female passenger had fallen ill with cardiac pain. The crew arrived on scene at 2:57pm, to the passenger vessel just downstream of Teddington lock.
Upon arrival, helmsman Matt Allchurch and crewmember Matt Ellins boarded the vessel to assess the casualty’s condition and plan her evacuation. Matt Allchurch, who took the first aid lead, said: ‘The casualty was in pain and we felt it would be difficult to move her into the lifeboat, which was a metre or so lower than the passenger boat.’
Matt added: ‘We decided to take the passenger vessel and lifeboat through Teddington Lock and meet the London Ambulance Service (LAS) at Ham riverside for a safer evacuation.’
Helmsman, Andy Butterfield, who remained on the lifeboat to command the boat and to monitor communications, directed the LAS to the correct location. Meanwhile, Matt Ellins monitored the casualty closely and provided all available first aid.
Andy said: ‘The LAS arrived around 30 minutes later. The transfer from the passenger vessel to the LAS stretcher was easy and almost level at Ham riverside. Matt Ellins gave a full and thorough handover to the paramedics, including initial assessment, treatment given and subsequent monitoring.’
Once the handover had been completed and the paramedics and passenger vessel crew were happy, the Teddington crew stood down and returned to station around 3:45pm.
Recalling the service call, Matt said: ‘The first aid, communication and handover all went really well, which is a credit to all of the training we do.’
The RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea, also operates three other lifeboat stations on the River Thames, two in London at Chiswick, Tower and one further down the river in Kent, at Gravesend.
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
