The Southport Lifeboat and Quad bikes were tasked by Holyhead Coastguard shortly after 9pm last night (15/06/21) to reports of a despondent male in difficulty in the water on Southport Beach.
The quads began searching along the tideline whilst the Southport Lifeboat, the Heather White, was towed to the launching site by our Challenger launch vehicle.
The lifeboat launched at 21:25 and immediately spotted the casualty a few hundred meters from the carriage.
Our crew worked quickly in recovering the casualty into the Lifeboat and began administering casualty care as the boat was put back onto the launch carriage.
Coastguard rescue helicopter 936 was tasked to help and landed on Southport beach, but it was decided that the casualty be transferred to the NWAS ambulance on the slipway.
Keith Porter, Senior Coxswain of the Southport Lifeboat said; “We were paged last night by Holyhead Coastguard to reports of a despondent male in difficulty in the sea at Southport Beach.
“As we launched our Lifeboat close to the low water mark, our volunteer crew spotted the male who was struggling to keep his head above the water and quickly recovered him into the lifeboat.
“We cared for the casualty onboard as we recovered the lifeboat and returned to the slipway. He was in a stable condition and responding to the crews’ treatment, but it was decided that the best cause of action was to pass him on to the North West Ambulance Service to be monitored for secondary drowning.
“This was a great team effort by our voluntary crew and the other emergency services involved in the rescue.”
Key Facts about the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust
Run by the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust (SORT), Southport Lifeboat provides a lifeboat and land based search and rescue service around the Sefton coastline.
We are a registered declared facility with the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Independent of the RNLI, the Trust relies on donations and fundraising to support itself to provide a first class life saving service in an area of coast and water covering between the River Mersey and the River Ribble, and up to 25 miles offshore, including Southport Marine Lake.
Our crew are all unpaid volunteers who are on call all year round. When the pagers go off, the crew drop what they are doing to provide help for those in need.
The crew regularly give up their time to train and fundraise for the Lifeboat.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA8JYsF158Y
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