The line up

Some of the team looking their best.  Ian, Nick, Tom, Roger, John and Austen.

St Albans and Kimmeridge Coastguard had a incident this afternoon which required a helicopter evacuation.

Memorial

Yesterday the team were invited to Peveril Point and the unveiling of a plaque to the late Ian Surface.

Ian was the station Manager of the National Coastwatch at Swanage, after serving in the Coastguard for 30 years. During his Service to the town Ian was awarded a B.E.M (British Empire Medal) for his work.  After 30 years, finishing as the Auxiliary in Charge - Ian went on to rebuild the lookout at Peveril and continue the good work from the lookout.

Whilst a sad day it was nice to be part of such an event to mark Ian's commitment to the town.

Strong Offshore Wind

A small inflatable dinghy has just been caught out by the strong offshore wind.  One of the sailing club rescue boats assisted and brought the boat ashore.

This year the team are going to work with partner agencies in Swanage and Studland to raise the dangers of offshore winds and inflatables.

Best dressed incident

The team were just returning from a memorial unveiling at Peveril Point, when on route to sandwiches and tea the IRT noticed an Ambulance car in the boat park.

The team stopped and checked with the Paramedic if she needed a hand and then next thing, 5 Coastguard Officers all dressed in the best uniform are on their hands and knees carrying out 1st aid. A male had fallen from his yacht whilst it was parked in the boat park and received a nasty head injury. Due to the location and a few other factors the Air Ambulance was requested and landed by the team at Peveril Point.

The male was flown to Poole Hospital for treatment and the team resumed just in time to finish the buffet.

Air Ambulance

The team are currently dealing with an incident at Peveril Point. S&D Air Ambulance currently on site and proving something of a visitor attraction

Fire on Green Island

A large incident in Poole Harbour today with a major fire on Green Island.

Thankfully no one injured but major damage to the property being built.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-17784749

Different Cliffs

Useful cliff rescue training session at Anvil Point last night where the cliffs are totally different to those at Peveril. Oneeffect of this is that, because of the geography, the team operating the lines at the top cannot see the cliff technician or safety team operating at the cliff edge, so communications between the two have to be by radio.

DSO Austen was the technician who went 'over', his only slight panic being whether anyone had a camera to record the event. Well we did, and we did:

A while back, during a particularly quiet day in the office, Oscar wrote a useful blog entry looking at the different types of cliff we have in Swanage and how we tackle them, so if you want to know more about the local terrain, Click on Cliff:

What do you take to the beach?

Most people take a bucket and spade to the beach, this man brought his digger !

Five go hunting in Durlston Bay

Like a story from Enid Blyton, five Coastguards go for a walk in Durlston Bay. A rocky beach and not easy to get about, the team had a good explore and checked the area to see if anything had washed up.