Aberdyfi and Barmouth RNLI Lifeboats involved in Tywyn rescue

Aberdyfi RNLI Lifeboat was paged at 1:11pm yesterday afternoon to reports of people in difficulty on the rocks at Tywyn promenade. As there were already crew at the station the lifeboat was launched minutes later. Whilst on route to Tywyn the Lifeboat was updated by UK Coastguard that the persons were now in the water.

As Aberdyfi Lifeboat arrived on the scene one of the casualties was being recovered from the water by a member of the public, the lifeboat then began a search for the additional casualty. Using their local knowledge the lifeboat crew searched the area following the coastline and currents in dumping surf.

Whilst on their second pass, local HM Coastguard teams radioed the lifeboat to inform them the casualty had been spotted face down in the water ahead of the lifeboats position. The helm put one crew member in the water to recover the casualty to the shore, as it was too dangerous to take the lifeboat in due to members of the public entering the water to help.

With the help of two members of the public the crew member recovered the casualty to the beach and immediately began casualty care. They were then joined by a second crew member from the lifeboat, carrying oxygen and resuscitation equipment. Working together along with members of the HM Coastguard team they began CPR on the casualty.

The casualty was then taken by air ambulance to Alder Hey Hospital.

Barmouth’s All Weather Lifeboat was also launched to the incident; they were turned back by UK Coastguard whilst on route as the casualties had been successfully recovered.

Dave Williams, Aberdyfi Lifeboat Operations said ‘Our volunteer crew launched very quickly to this incident and working together with the Coastguard teams on the land, the Coastguard Helicopter and the Air Ambulance, performed very professionally to find and recover the casualty in the difficult search conditions due to the dumping surf'.

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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 146,000 lives.

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