North Berwick RNLI respond to four incidents in six hours

After finishing their weekly Sunday morning training session, crew members were approached by a member of public at 11.35am who alerted them to the first incident of the day: a personal water craft rider who had broken their leg.

The casualty was part of a group of personal water craft who had been enjoying the 2m swell on a trip around the islands off North Berwick. Unfortunately the casualty was thrown from their craft after coming off a wave on the north side of Craigleith island.

Members of the group were able to recover the casualty onto a personal water craft where it became apparent that they had sustained a leg injury. The casualty was brought ashore and an ambulance called. Our volunteers, who are trained in casualty care assessed and immobilised the casualty before administering a powerful pain relieving drug, penthrox, whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

The crew were then alerted by their pagers to the second incident at 12.22pm when a personal water craft rolled in waves before colliding with rocks in the Fairway at the base of North Berwick’s harbour wall. With 1.5m waves breaking in the fairway the lifeboat was launched with crew assisting the rider, and craft back to shore. The rider was shaken, but very lucky not to be injured.

The riders of the personal water craft in these incidents were suitably equipped, wearing wetsuits, buoyancy aids and with an assortment of ways to call for help, including phones and personal locator beacons.

Duncan Barbour, Water Safety Officer at North Berwick said; ‘It’s really important when you set out on the water that you have the correct safety equipment. A waterproof means of contacting the Coastguard should things go wrong is vital, just as a buoyancy aid or life jacket is.’

‘You also need to check the conditions and local hazards and crucially, understand whether they are suitable for your craft, and your experience. Just because it’s sunny and there isn’t much wind on land, doesn’t mean it’s the same offshore.’

‘Waves can be incredibly powerful. A square meter of water weighs a tonne, if that’s moving at say 15 mph like the waves were today, then that’s a lot of force when it hits you.’

As the crew were de-briefing the previous call out, Aberdeen Coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre tasked them to a third incident. This time a mother was watching their child on a stand up paddleboard who was having difficulty getting back to shore. As the crew were about to launch the lifeboat, they were stood down as the casualty had made it back to shore.

The fourth incident of the day came at 5.06pm after a 999 call reported a swimmer caught in a rip current in Milsey bay, North Berwick. The lifeboat made its way through breaking waves to the scene of the incident, where the swimmer had been brought ashore by a paddleboarder. The casualty was assessed ashore by the North Berwick Coastguard Rescue Team before being passed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Notes to editors

• It cost £1,360 a year to train each crew member in the lifesaving skills they need to answer the call for help
• In 2025 the RNLI spent £196.9M delivering its lifesaving service.
• Across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, RNLI lifeboat crews based out of 238 lifeboat stations helped 8,290 people and saved 272 lives as the charity’s lifeboats launched more than 9,000 times in 2025, making it the sixth-busiest year in the charity’s history. More here

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RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]

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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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