
Oban RNLI comes to aid of unconscious diver
Oban’s volunteer lifeboat crew and paramedics were called to assist a diver who was discovered face down in the water while diving off Maiden Island at the northern entrance to Oban Bay.
Oban Lifeboat Crew were paged just before 3pm today (Monday) after Stornoway Coastguard received a 999 call reporting someone seriously injured on the small island. The crew were joined on board the lifeboat by two Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics.
During the short journey to the scene, two crew members put on dry suits as their colleagues prepared the lifeboat’s daughter craft, which the two crew members then used to get close in to the shore.
Once on scene the casualty was quickly located on rocks to the north side of the island and quickly put on oxygen before transferred to the Lifeboat for treatment by paramedics during a fast transfer back to shore and then on to hospital.
The casualty had been with four friends who had found him face down, unconscious and not breathing in the water after surfacing from a free dive.
Two of the casualty’s companions were also taken off the island to the lifeboat and brought to shore with the casualty. Oban lifeboat’s daughter craft remained on scene to help the two remaining members of the group gather their belongings before transferring them off the island to a nearby beach.
Once the casualty had been moved across into an ambulance, the lifeboat returned to recover the daughter craft and bring the crew members and remaining members of the group back to Oban.
Oban Lifeboat Coxswain Ally Cerexhe said:
“This was a multi-agency rescue, not just involving our colleagues from the Scottish Ambulance Service but also Coastguard teams on the shore and the Coastguard helicopter Rescue 199 from Prestwick.
“We’d particularly like to thank the crew of a local fishing boat who were helping on the scene when we arrived.”
Picture Caption
Oban lifeboat launches its daughter craft to reach the casualty on Maiden Island. Image: Stephen Lawson/RNLI
Notes to Editor
Oban Lifeboat volunteers in 2022 celebrated fifty years of saving lives at sea.
Oban is a busy station serving one of the largest stretches of coastline in the UK, flanked by RNLI colleagues based at Tobermory, Islay and Campbeltown.
The Oban volunteer crew operate the Trent Class All Weather lifeboat Mora Edith MacDonald from our base at the South Pier on Gallanach Road, close to the CalMac ferry terminal.
RNLI Media Contacts
For further information, please contact:
John Macgill Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for Oban RNLI on 07711 548672 or email [email protected]
Stephen Lawson Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for Oban RNLI on 07776 340629 or email [email protected]
Natasha Bennett, Regional Media Officer (Scotland), on 07826 900639 or [email protected]
Martin Macnamara, Regional Media Manager (Scotland), on 07920 365929 or [email protected]
RNLI Press Office 01202 336789 or [email protected]
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.
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.