On Monday last (17th), several search and rescue teams held a very active training session out of the village of Groomsport on the North Down coast.
Taking part alongside Lagan Search and Rescue’s Ribcraft Class 1 Lifeboat were Bangor Atlantic 85 inshore and Donaghadee’s Trent Class Lifeboats, Coastguard Rescue Teams from Bangor and Portaferry on Strangford Lough, as well as K9 Search and Rescue and safety boats from Royal North of Ireland YC on Belfast Lough.
The Search and Rescue crews involved in the Joint Exercise on the North Down Coast
The aim of the exercise was to replicate a scenario where a boat was sinking near the coastline, requiring survivors to evacuate to a life raft and swim to safety. During the exercise, lifeboats and Quayside Search and Rescue teams, as well as Swiftwater and Flood Rescue Technicians, were used in the search for survivors.
Practice using a rescue raft during the SAR Joint Exercise on the North Down Coast
One of the scenarios practised by the Swiftwater and Flood Rescue Technicians from LSAR, K9 SAR and Coastguard Rescue was using a rescue raft to practice extracting a casualty from rocks inaccessible by land or boat. They work as a team to swim the raft across a distance of water using ropes in a continuous loop across the water to bring back the casualty on the raft.
Lagan SAR said it was “an incredible opportunity to enhance our skills and knowledge during this exercise, and we're already looking forward to the next one! Thank you to Bangor RNLI for organising”.
