Girvan Lifeboat Launches to multi agency recovery of injured casualty

At 12:57 today Saturday 26th April our volunteer crews pagers sounded for the 2nd time in an hour, with them first being activated at 12:17 and a stand down message minutes later, this time was for sure.

On arrival at the lifeboat station the crew were briefed that a 76yr old male who was participating in a coastline cleanup, removing bits of waste and plastic that had been washed ashore had received a lower limb fracture and at the request of the Scottish Ambulance Service and HM Coastguard Girvan CRT & Ballantrae Coastguard Rescue Team the lifeboat was tasked to help extract the injured casualty from the location.

Making best speed North to the location just North of Croy Shore, once on scene with our all-weather Shannon Class Lifeboat 'Elizabeth and Gertrude Allan', our crew liaised with Coastguard teams and the ambulance service to formulate the best course of action, after some discussions the plan was to send lifeboat crew ashore in our X-Boat inflatable daughter craft to help in the recovery of the casualty due to the location.

With our volunteer crew ashore and the all-weather Lifeboat standing off, the casualty had already been treated and packaged by paramedics and Coastguard teams, and was brought aboard the X-Boat and taken out and aboard the lifeboat.

Girvan Lifeboat then made quick progress back to Girvan where the casualty was transferred ashore and handed back into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service and taken to Crosshouse Hospital for further treatment.

2nd Coxwain Gary McGarvie said of the incident, This is the 2nd such multi agency incident in a few weeks, where the safest and easiest way of extracting the casualty from the location has been by lifeboat, we work constantly with other agencies as well as train with them, which makes incidents like this run very smoothly, it shows the value we have to other agencies and emergency services as a valuable asset to assist them as well as attending our own rescues and various incidents.

If you see or believe someone to be in trouble at sea or along our coastline, don't hesitate dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard right away.

Photos courtesy of Girvan Lifeboat and Andrew Girvan

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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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