Lifeboat and Helicopter Involved in Medical Emergency Drama

The yachtsman was one of several people aboard the 38 foot Marta which was being towed by a motor cruiser from Cowes to Hamble. After he was transferred to the lifeboat the Lee on Solent-based Coastguard helicopter, which just happened to be in the area, lowered down a paramedic to carry out an examination.

Then the man and the paramedic were taken by the lifeboat to Trinity Landing, where lifeboat shore crew assisted in the man’s transfer to an ambulance waiting on The Parade for onward conveyance to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport.

Before returning to its station the lifeboat briefly went out into the Solent again, so that the helicopter could hoist back its paramedic.

The lifeboat, which had launched at 6.42 pm, was away from station for about one and half hours.

It was the second time in three days that the lifeboat had been in a ‘shout’ involving the Marta. On Monday evening it towed the yacht into Cowes after it went aground or struck an underwater object west of the town. And the same four crew members of the lifeboat were involved in both tasks.

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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 142,700 lives.

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