Saturday June 6th 18:59
Family and dog stranded near Bundle Head
A family of 4 (3 adults, 1 child and a dog) who had been camping at Plantation Cove found themselves cut off by the tide and requested help from HM Coastguard. The Teignmouth RNLI lifeboat 'The Two Annes' and its volunteer crew arrived on scene at 19:05. The sea and beach conditions were unsuitable for the lifeboat to evacuate the family, but a crew member was put ashore to assess and comfort the family.
The choice of helicopter evacuation or cliff rescue was evaluated by HM Coastguard and it was decided to use the HM Coastguard Cliff Rescue Team who then descended and recovered the family whilst the lifeboat stood by. All the casualties were recovered to the cliff top by 20:30, the crewman returned to the lifeboat at 20:42, and the boat returned to station arriving at 20:49
Saturday June 6th 13:40
Upturned vessel - 3 persons reported in the water
RNLI lifeboat crew, lifeguards and HM Coastguard respond.
The Teignmouth RNLI inshore lifeboat 'The Two Annes' and an RNLI lifeguard responded to reports of three people in the water off Ness Beach and without lifejackets, after their small boat was swamped. A group of kayakers from Reading University managed to help the casualties to the shore before the lifeboat arrived. The three casualties were then assisted by the volunteer lifeboat crew, a lifeguard using the local RNLI Rescue Water Craft (Jet ski)and HM Coastguard.
The three had been onboard a small boat that was swamped in the choppy conditions off Teignmouth and in torrential rain. With no VHF radio onboard, an onlooker had raised the alarm and the lifeboat crew and HM Coastguard were able to provide medical assistance as the casualties were suffering from mild hypothermia.
Lifejackets were still unwrapped
Rory Smith, RNLI Area Lifeguard Supervisor who helped from the jet ski reported that he noticed the casualties had lifejackets onboard but they were still in the packets they were bought in, and all had automatically inflated inside the bags.
Tony Watson the RNLI's Sea Safety Officer for Teignmouth highlighted three major safety issues with this incident - "lifejackets are useless unless worn, and a waterproof VHF hand-held radio, and flares
would have helped raise the alarm earlier".
Mike Schooling, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager at Teignmouth, says the incident illustrates the importance of the RNLI team in the area:
‘This turned out to be a straight forward incident to deal with, but this was thanks to the RNLI team who responded including the lifeboat crew and the lifeguard. We only had a joint exercise last week and this shows how useful our co-working is when it comes to ensuring we continue to fulfil our aim to save lives at sea.’
Saturday May 30th 17:02
Inflatable Dinghy Incident
A volunteer crewman and the on-duty DLA were concerned over an inflatable dinghy with two people on board at the sea end of a sand-spit close to Spratt Sands. The tide was on the ebb and because of the choppy conditions on the bar an immediate launch of the lifeboat was made. The occupants of the dinghy appeared unaware of the possible danger of being carried out to see on a rip current, and were persuaded after some discussion to return to the beach.
About 45 minutes later the inflatable was again reported in the same position and an RNLI lifeguard this time approached them and re-inforced the earlier safety message resulting in the two young adults moving to a safer area.
More information...
Saturday May 30th 13:47
Hang-glider crash-lands at Maidencombe
HM Coastguard Brixham was concerned over the safety of a hang-glider who had come down in the sea near Maidencombe, and requested the launch of the Teignmouth lifeboat to assist the local coastguard. The casualty managed to reach rocks close to the shore but as the lifeboat was unable to get close to the rocks, the lifeboat stood by and two crew members swam ashore to administer first aid.
Paramedics arrived soon after and confirmed that the casualty was safe and well but a bit shaken by the experience. The lifeboat crew then recovered the hang-glider which was about 200m out to sea, and put the craft ashore at Maidencombe.
More information... |
