Margate RNLI assists in multi-agency response to injured walker

HM Coastguard received a request for maritime assistance from South East Coast Ambulance Service around 7pm on Sunday 14 June after paramedics responded to an emergency call from a member of the public. The caller was with an adult male who had slipped and fallen on the wall surrounding Walpole Bay Tidal Pool in Cliftonville.

With the casualty suffering a suspected serious knee injury and additional casualty extraction assistance required, Margate RNLI’s D class inshore lifeboat along with Margate and Deal Coastguard Rescue Team were tasked to assist.

Despite shallow water and on a rising tide, two of the lifeboat crew were landed onto the pool wall where the casualty was receiving treatment by paramedics. With coastguard officers also on scene a plan was formulated to extract the casualty, who had been immobilised, to shore via the pool wall.

The casualty was first transferred to a an Alpine Lite ambulance stretcher from the lifeboat then onto a coastguard stretcher for the journey to dry land and the paramedics’ own ambulance stretcher for transfer to hospital.

Moving the casualty was a hazardous operation hampered by the slippery nature of the tidal pool wall and with one eye on the rising tide whereby the wall would be covered. With the casualty transferred to the care of the ambulance service the lifeboat was released and returned to station.

Lee Button, Launch Authority, Margate RNLI said: “Extraction of the casualty involved a complex operation, each agency combining their particular maritime and medical skills to provide a safe outcome following the accident.

“The pool wall is regularly cleaned by the local authority but will always be slippery and uneven and we urge people to take extreme care and assess the dangers before venturing around the pool. Fortunately the casualty was not alone and help was quickly summoned, having a mobile phone and letting others ashore know where you are going and when you plan to return if alone are good measures to ensure a safe journey.”

Notes to editors

Margate lifeboat station has been operating since 1860. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to: https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/margate-lifeboat-station

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