River Thames search & rescue exercise Operation Mudlark marked a huge success
On Thursday 8 June at 11am a call was made to HM Coastguard to trigger the start of multi-agency mud rescue known as Operation Mudlark.
Senior Maritime Operations Officer Paul Whitehead at HM Coastguard said, ‘The first of a number of live search & rescue exercises took place today at Erith. Exercise Mudlark proved a valuable opportunity for River Thames rescue assets to test their response to a mud rescue scenario following a person entering the water from Erith Deep Water Pier.’
‘The team consisted of personnel from Gravesend RNLI, London Fire Brigade & Metropolitan Police Service Marine Units, HM Coastguard London and the National Police Air Service London.’
‘All those involved may be employed by different organisations but are all very much of the mind-set of one team for one purpose, and that is making London’s River Thames a safer place for all.’
‘All agencies came away from today’s exercise with some lessons learnt or skills honed as well as strengthening the team bond.’
RNLI Thames Commander Liam Sidders added, ‘A huge thank you to all agencies and volunteers who made today's exercise successful. It was really positive to have such an insight into working together to achieve the same outcome and using all the necessary rescue techniques to good effect. A special thank you to Paul Whitehead and John Fletcher for their attendance and input into the exercise.’
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