76 SPONSORED BY PREMIER NOSS ON DART


A BUSY SUMMER FOR DART RNLI VOLUNTEER CREW By Sophie Rennie, Dart RNLI Local Press Officer


I


t has been a busy summer for DART RNLI Volunteer crew. We have encountered all sorts of


rescues this summer. Some of our volunteer crew are highly trained medically and can offer all sorts of casualty care. These valuable skills have come into practice on a few occasions in the past few weeks. Notable shouts which required casualty care include a casualty off a yacht who suffered a stroke whilst out racing during Regatta Week. As we all know – we need to act FAST (noting whether there is a change to the look of the face, does one arm drop, and then the speed and time which we can get them to emergency care), so our crews raced to the scene and carried out casualty care until the ambulance service arrived. Also of note and during Regatta


week a person had gone into the water but hit the steps on the way down and sustained an injured back as well as getting very cold. Our crews happened to be about 100 yards away when the shout came in from the Coastguard and so were very quickly on scene and able to provide medical care and help stretcher the casualty up into the ambulance when it arrived. This kind of knowledge and the valuable skills shown by the crew is invaluable considering the often (but not


The local beach lifeguards working alongside Dart RNL


always) long waiting times for an ambulance in and around the Dartmouth area. We are also extremely lucky to have two doctors on the team who contribute regularly to the efforts if required. Whilst we see the crew on the


lifeboats there are other hidden qualities that the public don’t see.


Some of the crew are mental health champions – this means they have been on a course which helps them to understand how to deal with anyone who has mental health issues and this means they are better trained to deal with anyone in this kind of situation. All crew undergo safeguarding awareness on a yearly basis as well as other health and safety courses. It takes time to become


Both the B and D Class in action out on a shout.


a crew member of the RNLI – whether it be shore crew, tractor launch driver, boat crew or helm. RNLI Dart are lucky to have so many talented crew members who all volunteer their time with very little grumbling (maybe those middle of the night shouts are an example of that!).


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