Lifeguards and lifeboat crew carry out rescues during joint training in Cornwall
RNLI lifeguards and volunteer lifeboat crew at Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station have been sharing vital skills and experiences during a series of joint training exercises in West Cornwall.
The volunteer crew members of Sennen Cove’s inshore and all-weather lifeboat worked with lifeguard teams from Sennen, Gwenver and Porthcurno beaches, practicing evacuation techniques of unconscious casualties and rescues in the surf using the D-Class inshore lifeboat and the lifeguard’s rescue water craft.
The teams practiced recovering people from the water and administering CPR using a life-size dummy and casualties were transferred between lifeboats and treated for a number of injuries on board the all-weather Tamar Class lifeboat.
Coxswain at Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station Ollie George says: ‘It was extremely beneficial for us to carry out exercise scenarios alongside our lifeguard colleagues, exploring the ways in which we can work together in realistic situations and learn from each other’s’ experience.’
The charity’s lifeguards and lifeboat crew carry out training sessions together, working through a number of possible scenarios, to help them prepare for when they are called out to someone in difficulty around the coast.
The teams are committed to providing a professional rescue service to those who require it. Last year RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews launched 1,266 times, assisting 1,147 people. The charity’s lifeguards across the south west dealt with 7,982 incidents, assisting 10,080 people in 2017.
Lifeguard Supervisor Ollie Shilston added: ‘This was a fantastic opportunity to work with Ollie and the crew from Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station. Their local knowledge and the experience of this area of coastline are invaluable to our lifeguards.
‘This training was a huge step forward to an important working relationship with lifeguards and lifeboat crews in the Penwith area and a testament to the hard work everyone has put in over the last year.’
The RNLI would ask anyone planning a visit to the coast to head to a lifeguarded beach where a team of lifeguards is on hand to offer safety advice to beachgoers.
To find details of your nearest lifeguarded beach visit rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeguarded-beaches
If you see someone in trouble, alert the lifeguards or call 999 (or 112) and ask for the Coastguard. Do not enter the water yourself.
To find out how you can stay safe while enjoying your water activity, visit www.RespectTheWater.com
Notes to editors- Pictures and captions attached. Credit Harry Hoare
- Video footage available here. Credit RNLI
For more information contact Carrie Garrad, RNLI Regional Media Officer on 07786 668847 or [email protected] or the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
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Key facts about the RNLI
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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