Three call outs in 24 hours for Achill RNLI
If ever the importance of a constant state of readiness was underlined then a single 24 hour period this week has been a reminder of this for the volunteer lifeboat crew at Achill RNLI.
The first of three call outs came on Wednesday night (11 May) at approximately 10.30pm when the station’s all-weather lifeboat was requested to launch by the Irish Coast Guard to support the evacuation of an elderly patient from Inishturk Island, who was transferred to hospital by the Coast Guard helicopter.
On Thursday afternoon (12 May) at 5.15pm the lifeboat was called on again, on this occasion being requested to locate and rescue a small cabin boat that encountered engine failure about a mile and a half west off Dooega Head.
The distressed boat, which was crewed by four people, had to be located and then towed to Purteen harbour, where it was brought safely ashore by a D-class inshore boat from Achill Coast Guard. Excellent weather conditions were a help to the smoothness of the recovery.
Finally, on Thursday evening a local doctor requested the assistance of Achill RNLI to take a patient from Clare Island into Cloughmore, where the patient was transferred by ambulance to hospital.
Speaking following a busy 24 hours, Dave Curtis, Achill RNLI Coxswain said: ‘Our volunteers are always on call and ready to respond when needed and we were delighted to be of assistance. The response to each call out demonstrated good team work with our colleagues in the Coast Guard, while the rescue of the cabin boat was a good example of our RNLI training paying off. We would like to wish the patients a speedy recovery,’
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