Anvil Point Lighthouse - Emergency Phone.

The IRT were tasked to Anvil Point Lighthouse this afternoon following a 'dropped call' from the emergency telephone to the HMCoastguard Operations Room (MRCC).

The telephone automatically connects to the Ops Room when picked up and it would appear someone picked the phone up and put it down again; perhaps out of curiosity rather than ill intent.

The team are routinely sent to firstly check there isn't an emergency, and secondly to offer words of advice to people you might be messing round with it. On this occasion the IRT spoke to the a family holidaying at the lighthouse who confirmed that they had not seen any other children using it.

Serious Incidents off Studland

With the fine weather it was not going to be long before the pagers went off and just after 4pm a report came in off 3 Kayaks in trouble off Old Harry Rocks.  Swanage Lifeboats, ILB , Rescue 106 and the IRT proceeded as best speed.

Thankfully the 3 had been picked up by passing boats so the helicopter was stood down on arrrival at Swanage and the Lifeboat and ILB  after checking all was in order returned to station.

The IRT met the 3 on the beach to take their details and check their welfare.  Condtions off Old Harrry were rough and had been to much for them.  Thankfully they were well equiped with lifejackets but had forgotten their VHF radio - a mobile phone had been used to raise the alarm and they were lucky it worked in that location.

Having finished that incident, the IRT liaised with the National Trust and found they had been busy with two medical emergencies on the beach......we then got an immediate call from Portland coastguard asking us to proceed to North end of Studland Beach, a yacht was coming ashore in the surf.

We arrived to find a 33ft yacht aground in heavy surf and concern for the single male on board.  Both
Swanage Lifeboats were launched again with the ILB arriving 1st.

The ILB crew did an outstanding job and actually got the yacht off, unfortunatley the yachts engine was in gear and had a damaged rudder - this resulted in the yacht turning 180 degrees and grounding again but broadside.

The male on board had decided to get off at this stage and came ashore to the IRT on the beach.  The Swanage Lifeboat arrived and again with some excellent skill got the yacht off, towing it to deeper water to be checked.  Thankfully no damage other than the rudder so it was towed to Poole.

But the incident did not quite end there......the male on board then became unwell so had to require some medical treatment.  Having had that, he had a short trip to Shell Bay and a lift via Poole ILB back to his yacht.  Poole ILB then took over the tow from Swanage for the final stages of the incident.

Thankfully thanks to the skill of a few, today's incidents have all ended without serious injury.

Action at Durlston Country Park

Rescue 106 at Tilly Whim Caves - Photo Dee Bowden

The IRT (Tom and Dee) were tasked this afternoon to Durlston Country Park after female took a fall and hurt her ankle. Due to the location Rescue 106 was brought in to assist the IRT and the Ambulance crew.

Durlston Country Park Rangers assisted in keeping the crowds back whilst the helicopter was on the ground.

Callout

This evening the IRT were tasked by Portland MRCC to assist South Western Ambulance on the Downs with a medical incident.

CRO's Kitching and Simmons attended and were quickly on scene assisting the ambulance service returning to the station in just over 30 minutes.

Dog falls from Old Harry

Swanage Coastguard IRT were tasked at 15.00 along with the crew of the Swanage ILB to "Bobby" who had chased a seagull and fallen about 90ft.

Fearing the worse the owners from Poole quickly dialled 999 and asked the Coastguard for assistance. 17 minutes later Coastguards and lifeboat crew turned up to find the dog in shock and a broken paw.

The ILB crew brought the dog ashore at South Beach to the waiting Coastguard team and owners. The dog was taken to the vets in Swanage but due to the broken paw and advice from the vet the dog was transferred to the main vets in Wareham.

The owners were very grateful to both the Coastguard and the RNLI, where else in the World would you receive such swift service from volunteers?

As usual we would like to remind owners of dog to keep them on leads when on cliffs, the owners today confirmed they had just taken 'Bobby' off the lead and turned their backs for a minute when he disappeared.

The Swanage Lifeboat crew have just released their video

Just watching.

Coastguards spend a lot of time just watching.

Like today when the lifeboat launched, the role of IRT was just to watch......watch the lifeboat and watch the yacht in trouble. Whilst technology has greatly improved and electronics monitor the lifeboat you can not beat the mark one eye ball (or in the case of the IRT 4 eye balls)

The IRT is the eyes and sometimes ears of the Maritime Rescue Centre at Weymouth. Situations can be reported back and this allows everyone to stay safe. From the vantage point high up on a cliff the IRT can also act as safety cover to ensure other vessels stay out the way of a rescue.

Another Dog Incident

The Swanage Coastguard IRT were called out along with Swanage Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) to a dog fallen from cliffs near Old Harry Rocks.

http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07-home/newsandpublications/press-releases.htm?id=0D8CCA9CCF3DCFE1&m=12&y=2010

It appears the owner had lost the dog in the morning and for some reason had not notified the Coastguard or Police at the time. Passing walkers heard the dog this afternoon and called the Coastguard as there was concern the dogs owner had also fallen. The IRT arrived on scene and due to the location decided it was safer to request the ILB to recover the dog.

Thankfully the dog had no injuries and was reunited to a very relieved owner at the lifeboat house.

This is the 9th (ninth) dog incident this year for the team, some have not had a happy ending. Again we ask owners of dogs to keep dogs on leads when near the cliffs, and should you lose you dog near the cliffs please report it to the Coastguard and Police straight away.

November 31st

Just checked the team agreement to see who's on call tomorrow (under CG rules, we're not allowed a rota so we have an agreement amongst the team as to who will assume IRT cover on a particular day, and then the boss writes it down in Excel format for easy reference. But, its definitely NOT a rota).

So, the team agreement shows Messrs Craker and Brown on IRT for the night of 31st November.

Hang on a sec......31st November?

Your No1

1st job of the year and Messrs Bentham and Kitching form the advance party to Studland...

1) Keys......found on the side in the garage
2) PPE.......check
3) Lights....check
4) Sat Nav....we haven't got one
5) Radio.......Heart or Radio 2?
6) Bacon Sandwich.......Eric and Tom finishing those...

Lets go......

IRT

I’m on IRT (Initial Response Team) today. Does this mean sitting around all day waiting for a call?

Well yes and no.

On one hand you are limited to what you can do, basically you need to be within 5 minutes of the station, so no bike rides, walks, kayaking or beer in the pub garden. On the other hand you try and get on with life; you can’t sit round waiting for something that might not happen, to happen….if that makes sense.

Yesterday we had a call to a missing child, naturally to minimise risk to the child we deploy quickly. Three guys on station within 3 minutes; on this occasion we were stood down as the child was thankfully found.

We work on an unofficial rota with team members taking turns on two shifts 7.00am to 19:00 and then 19:00 to 07:00. So someone’s on call 24/7 365 days a year.

IRT or BURT

Initial Response Team (IRT) or Back Up Response Team (BURT), the two different stages of a Coastguard call out.

When an incident starts, the watch officers at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) decide what resources are required.

Taking today’s incident with the yacht, Swanage Lifeboat is launched to assist the yacht, whilst this is being done, Coastguards are required to be the eyes and ears on the ground for the staff in the centres reporting back any additional information required whilst the lifeboat crew deal with the tow.

Not all the team is required for such an incident so an IRT is requested; the IRT normally consists of two Coastguard Rescue Officers (CRO’s) however that can increase depending on the type of incident.
Should a search of cliff incident occur then the whole team (BURT) is requested straight away, a cliff incident requires a minimum of eight CRO’s and of course a search requires as many as possible to cover the area as quickly as possible.

The yacht towed in by Swanage Lifeboat today, the IRT monitored the lifeboat until safely back on the slip. Normally the IRT would also discuss with the skipper what had happened and offer advice if required, today the crew of the yacht remained on board the yacht.