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Volunteers at Teignmouth RNLI congratulate Rachel on passing assessment

Lifeboats News Release

Rachel Palmer becomes the latest volunteer crew to successfully pass her Tier One assessment at Teignmouth Lifeboat Station.

RNLI/Amy Furlong

Rachel Palmer RNLI Teignmouth

We’re delighted to congratulate Rachel Palmer on recently passing out as a qualified volunteer crew member at Teignmouth RNLI. Rachel joined as trainee crew 16 months ago and has been working through the training programme towards her goal of becoming a fully qualified member of the crew.

Rachel has a passion for water sports, whether rowing, sailing, diving, or swimming. Being a regular water user, she commented how she ‘sees first-hand how quickly conditions can change’, a driving motivation for joining as a volunteer and embarking on her training.

The RNLI Operational Competency Framework (OCF) is designed to provide volunteers with a clear and structured training framework that takes individuals from joining, to qualifying and then used as part of continual training for our volunteers. Rachel has been guided through her training by existing volunteer crew, and has extended her gratitude to those who have helped with the ‘brilliant training, by giving up time to schedule extra training exercises to help me progress’.

As well as in house training at Teignmouth Lifeboat Station, Rachel also went to the RNLI training centre in Poole where she undertook sea survival training and first aid courses. With countless hours of training under her belt Rachel ‘felt ready to be put to the test’ by the time the final assessment came round. When asked how she felt after being awarded a pass she exclaimed ‘it felt brilliant, to be part of the RNLI and be in a position to help those who need it is a good feeling, I’m looking forward to playing my part in helping to save lives at sea’.

Volunteers undertake continual training after passing their Tier One assessment to ensure they remain prepared to respond to the variety of conditions and challenges they may face. The OCF pathway continues onto Tier Two, Navigator and then the position of Helm. Rachel said ‘even though I’m now ‘passed out’ the training doesn’t stop! We had a great training session the other week where we had a scenario to respond to with a lot of casualties – it was great to put our skills to the test’.

Lifeboat Operations Manager Andy Lilburn was ‘thrilled’ that Rachel has successfully completed her training becoming the latest qualified volunteer crew member. Andy said ‘I am delighted for Rachel she has worked very hard and has shown dedication, commitment and enthusiasm towards saving lives at sea throughout the training process’.

Pete Shillabeer was the volunteer helm onboard Claude and Kath, Teignmouth’s Atlantic 85 Lifeboat for Rachel’s final assessment. Pete said it was a ‘privilege’ to be part of Rachel’s pass out assessment’ and that ‘Rachel is an asset to our volunteer crew, it’s been great to work with her as she’s progressed through the training’. Pete went on to say how it’s a great boost for the station, ‘it’s been a great show of commitment from everyone across the station to help Rachel progress with her training, so it’s a great feeling when it pays off, we’re all very proud of her’.

When asked about her motivations and reasons behind signing up as a volunteer for the RNLI Rachel recounts a story of a holiday when she was younger in which her family played a part in helping to rescue a casualty by the coast. ‘When I was little we used to come on holiday to Shaldon every summer and stay at my grandparents house. One year, on our last day of holiday we went out on our boat to say ‘goodbye’ to the coastline and our favourite beaches. We spied someone halfway up the cliff waving a white handkerchief. We went in to see what we could do to help but there was nothing we could do. It was in the days before mobile phones and we didn’t have a radio on us so we sped back to Teignmouth to the lifeboat station. It was with great excitement that the lifeboat was launched. We watched as the crew tried to get into the rocks to rescue the guy but it wasn’t possible. The helicopter was called and landed on the flat rocks just under the cliff where the guy was and managed to bring him down and to safety. That was my first memory of the lifeboats and from that moment I wanted to be a part of the team that rescued the man from the cliffs.

Fast forward 40 years and I’m now part of that team. In the years in-between my work as a photojournalist for international development charities has taken me all over the world responding to emergencies in places like the DRC, Niger and Somalia. I hope that, although a very different nature of emergency response work, it will put me in good stead for lifeboat responses’.

Rachel has already been on four operational shouts during her time at Teignmouth RNLI, Rachel commented how they have ‘all been different, meaning I’ve had to utilise the various skills learnt in our training in real life scenarios - my pager in on and I’m ready!’

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.

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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.

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