Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat crew rescue a man from the sea off Pakefield
Rescuers were called out after receiving reports that someone was in trouble in the sea off Pakefield near Lowestoft
Police, a RNLI lifeboat crew, Coastguard Rescue teams and the East of England Ambulance service responded to the call to the incident offshore adjacent to Pakefield Church.
Lowestoft RNLI Lifeboat Coxswain John Fox said “Our volunteer crew was called at 8.25pm and soon headed to the beach at Pakefield where we were given directions to the where the person had been seen.
We then located a man about a quarter of a mile offshore and threw a floatation aid to him. One of the crew lowered himself over the side and encouraged the man to place the rescue strop around himself and with the ‘A’ Frame and block and tackle we winched him out of the water and onto the deck.
He said that he had been in the water some time and was getting cold so we wrapped him in a blanket and brought him into the wheelhouse where we turned the heaters on to warm him before speeding back to the lifeboat station where an ambulance crew were waiting to attend to him.
By coincidence we had been out on our regular training session this morning and were practising this very life saving method with a dummy – so it just shows the value of rehearsing rescue techniques.”
This was the second time that the lifeboat crew had been called into action over the weekend after a yacht suffered engine failure and called for help the previous day. The 40 foot vessel was struggling to make headway against the tide and drifting towards a sandbank. The yacht was towed safely into harbour by Lowestoft Lifeboat.
RNLI media contacts
Mick Howes, Lowestoft RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer� 562488 / 07814 468917 email [email protected]
Clare Hopps RNLI Regional Media Officer (North East & East), Tel 07824 518641 [email protected]
Jim Rice, RNLI Regional Media Manager, Tel: 07810 658 072. [email protected]
For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789.
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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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