Morecambe’s Lifeboat Volunteers Saved 4 Lives In 2017

This total does not include the times when the crew were called out but stood down before launching or requested to be ready on standby but were not deployed.

The volunteers launched at least once a month during 2017; May being the busiest month, when they launched 5 times. Throughout the year, their search and rescue craft were launched less than 10 minutes after being alerted; with the exception of one incident on the River Lune in January, which took 12 minutes.

The charity only claims that a life has been ‘saved’ after an operational committee, in the RNLI’s headquarters in Poole, have interrogated the circumstances of the service and concluded that the casualty would have died without the intervention of the lifeboat crew. If the evidence suggests the casualty might have survived, or possibly rescued by other means, then they are deemed to have been ‘rescued’ or ‘assisted’. During the year, the Morecambe crew saved a total of 4 lives; a further 4 people were rescued and 3 people were assisted.

Coastal fatality figures show 109 people lost their lives at the UK coast in 2017 (156 in 2016)

Of these figures, six people lost their lives off the north west coast (Wirral, Lancashire and Cumbria) of England in 2017 (four in 2016). The RNLI can reveal:

· All six did not intend to enter the water

· Four of the six fatalities were men

Morecambe’s volunteers are totally committed to reducing this figure and the lifeboat station hosted educational visits for over 800 visitors from schools, youth groups and other organisations during the year; including all the pupils from West End Primary School – one year at a time! Crew members also delivered formal talks about their work to over 150 people in the community; as well as meeting members of the public during their Lifeboat Open Day and the Carnival and Heritage weekends.

The fatality figures quoted are for water-related fatalities from accidents and natural causes in UK tidal waters. The figures for the North West (Wirral, Lancashire, Cumbria) for 2013–2017 are: 9,8,6,4,6.

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 over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, 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.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.