
Poole and Swanage lifeboats in medical evacuation from Brownsea Island
Poole Lifeboat was requested to launch by the UK Coastguard on Monday evening (April 15) just before 10 pm to an urgent medical evacuation.
A person had been taken ill on Brownsea Island and required medical evacuation, paramedics had been transported across earlier on the Brownsea Ferry and were attending to the casualty.
The lifeboat proceeded to where the casualty was located on Brownsea at South Lodge, which is half way down the south side of the island, the paramedics were on-scene with the casualty administering first aid.
Two of the lifeboat crew went ashore to assist the paramedics, and to help stabilise the casualty in preparation for her transportation off the island.
It was very dark in the harbour, with a biting easterly wind 4-5 and the sea state around the castle quite choppy.
It was established by the crew on the lifeboat that the conditions on scene were too choppy and exposed to transport the casualty comfortably in the Poole inshore lifeboat, so they requested that the Swanage Lifeboat launch, as it would be a more stable and sheltered platform to transfer the very poorly casualty back ashore to the ambulance standing by at North Haven.
The Swanage crew arrived on scene and came alongside the pier near Brownsea Castle, the casualty was in a stretcher and the lifeboat crew and paramedics transferred the casualty onto the Swanage Lifeboat, who then took her safely ashore to North Haven at the entrance of the Harbour.
The Poole crew on the island returned back to the lifeboat and all returned back to station, after refuelling the lifeboat was ready for service by 12.45am.
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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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