Man Rescued from Old Harry

The team were busy yesterday along with Dorset Police, Swanage Inshore Lifeboat and Rescue 106 Helicopter in locating and then recovering a male from the base of the cliff at Old Harry.

Whilst the team observed from the cliff top and kept onlookers away from the edge,  the police launch and lifeboat moved in to recover the individual and assess his condition. Rescue 106 carries a paramedic winchman and although there was initially a thought to lower him onto one of the boats to attend to the casualty, it was decided to take the man by boat to Studland beach where the helicopter landed alongside.

After a thorough assessment by the winchman the male was airlifted to Poole hospital and the volunteers returned to the station for a debrief; a good example of multi agency working and another successful operation.

Know Your Safety Equipment

Do you know how to use your safety equipment?

Sailing on a yacht, cruising on a motorboat or paddling on a kayak: a day out on the water can be one of the best ways of spending time outdoors. But having the correct communication device is essential, and more important than having the equipment on board is having the knowledge and ability to use it. Training courses are readily available at organisations like the RYA. Make sure you learn the basics of radio operation, which button should I press? What radio frequencies (channels) to use? You should also familiarise yourself with the distress, emergency and medical assistance procedures.

And while it may sound a bit obvious, you’d be surprised how many people don’t do this. So our final advice to you is to tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return and update them if your plans change.

First Aid Training

Some shots from our training earlier in the week. 
Rob, the Weymouth area SCOO, is fitting a collar to Duncan whilst Eric seems slightly reluctant to lay down to be put into the recovery position. Perhaps he has seen the fate of the dummy lying on the ground next to him.

Halloween Night

Whilst many families were out trick or treating last night,  the Coastguard Volunteers were on station watching some horror videos of their own, with a selection of the Co-Op's Halloween sweets and cakes for company.  We saw plenty of 'blood and guts' to last us until next year's Halloween  (well not guts to be fair, but plenty of cuts, lacerations, abrasions, breaks and bones) and the good news is that, as a result, we are now all requalified in our First Aid training.

However, along the coast in Selsey, our colleagues celebrated Halloween with this creation which we thought deserved a mention.  Well done chaps - gives us some ideas for next year!!

Off the Beaten Track

Well, not strictly, but as with yesterday  the second of this weekend's patrols spent a lot of time off road and looking at different ways to access various locations.

Today, after a small tasking at Old Harry (where the DSO was put to good use taking photographs for a walking party), the team headed back to the Rempstone Forest area to check some routes there. After that it was up onto Nine Barrow Down and a look at the best routes to get up there depending on exactly where the incident is and where the vehicle is coming from when tasked.

 

Nine Barrow isn't a regular spot for call outs, but they do happen so it pays to be prepared. In recent years we have had at least two mountain bike incidents up there resulting in Coastguard and helicopter intervention.  It's a location that a regular ambulance just wouldn't reach.

This is at the Corfe End of Nine Barrow Down 

Serious Off Road Patrol

Today the patrol headed out with quite a list of things to achieve.

Quick check of the beach before heading to Rempstone Forest to check access and gates.

As part of mapping project we then headed to Franks Tank.

This area is a popular cyclist route and the team could be called to provide off road assistance to the ambulance service.


The Station Officer thought he found franks tank only to be told it was Nicks muck spreader.



Oh there it is ...... Franks Tank


The patrol carried on to check access , found a couple lost on their bikes and put them on the right road.

Off to Studland to check down the Ferry Road and that was four hours worth of patrol and 26 miles of access routes checked.

Coastguard and Lifeboat tasked to broken down jet ski

This afternoon the pagers of both the Coastguard and lifeboat crews were activated for a report of a jet ski and inflatable in distress on the Peveril tide race.

Swanage NCI were keeping watch until the Inshore Lifeboat and Coastguard arrived.

It appears a rope fouled the jet ski , however as the lifeboat arrived the rider of the ski had managed to sort the problem out.

All were escorted ashore to the waiting Coastguard team who offered some safety advice. In his type of incident the Coastguard team are sent to become the eyes and ears of the Operations Room in Fareham and to offer safety advice to those involved.

Decisions, Decisions

The pager goes and the voice over suggests there's a cliff faller at Tilly Whim, although a call to the Operations Room says it's for a lady who has fallen on the coast path.

I text the full team and drive to the station, thinking about the job. 

On arrival, one team member is prepping the cliff trailer but it's not a cliff job. So do we take it or not?  I decide we will - it might be useful.

The team arrives - its a work day and some can't make it. Have we got enough or do we need back up? Given the details to hand, I decide we have enough and we proceed.

En route I talk to the Operations Room and it becomes apparent that the ambulance hasn't arrived yet. We will be first on scene and I decide to ask the Durlston Park Rangers to assist with possible crowd management and 4x4 help with moving our kit and they are waiting when we arrive.

On scene,  I decide to send a couple of the team down first to assess the casualty whilst others set up the stretcher and a hold fast - its a steep slope and I decide I'd rather have a hold fast in place in case we need it later.

The ambulance can't give us an ETA and the lady is in considerable pain but I decide not to attempt to move her onto our stretcher just yet - I'd rather not move her before we have to.  Instead I think about how we are going to extricate her from her current location.

I weigh up the options and decide that it warrants a helicopter;  I request one and the control room agrees. It'll be 22 minutes.

I decide to keep some of the team suppporting the causalty and ask others to prepare the landing site.

And so the decision making goes on, all the way through until we stand down. We train for all eventualities, and our OICs (Officers in Charge) undertake extra training in order to be competent to run a rescue. But there are some decisions that cannot be rehearsed and need to be made, often under pressure and often at short notice, on the spot and at the time.

We always have a debrief afterwards and discuss what went well and what could have been done better and we look to put that learning into our next job.

Our aim acheived: a safe and successful rescue and a happy team.

Helicopter and Coastguards tasked to second medical incident.

For the second day running, the Volunteer Coastguard Rescue  team   has been working with the Rescue Helicopter, this time supporting Police and South Western Ambulance with an elderly lady who had fallen in town and sustained a serious  head injury.

Some of the team assisted at the scene of the incident where the helicopter initially tried to drop its winchman. However, with a crowded half term beach, it was agreed that a safer course of action was to land at King George's Field and convey the winchman/paramedic to the scene in our own vehicle.

Meanwhile, another unit was tasked to Poole to prepare the landing site for the helicopter's arrival there. 

Thanks to the Chain Ferry staff who waited for us,  only for us to turn round at the ferry ramp when it was decided that the helo would fly to Dorchester A&E instead.

Finally all units returned to King George's to transfer the casualty from the ambulance to the helicopter and assisting the ambulance out of the rather muddy field - our thanks to the tractor driver for his help.

And last of all, once the muddy overalls were off, a quick photo and all stand down before returning for a debrief. 

Helicopter at Anvil Point

The Coastguard volunteers have been back in action today, responding to reports of an 84-year old lady who had slipped awkwardly at Tilly Whim.

On arrival at Anvil Point the team set about making the lady comfortable and assessing her pain and possible  injuries.

The lady, who was part of an organised walking group, had slipped on a particularly steep section making extraction potentially difficult, and so the Rescue Helicopter from Portland was called to assist.

Working with the paramedic winchman,  the team stabilised the casualty and carefully loaded her onto the helicopter stretcher for the short journey to Dorchester A&E.

Despite it being a beautiful sunny Autumn day, and lovely for a walk, the ground is currently very slippy underfoot and we would urge anybody out for a walk to take care.

Thanks to Ian the walk leader for the photo and also for his assistance through the afternoon.