Less than 24 hours after their role in the dramatic rescue of French yachtsman Loic Escoffier, Baltimore RNLI were called out to provide a medical evacuation on Wednesday afternoon (20 July) from Cape Clear Island in West Cork in what marked their third callout in five days.
The volunteer crew — coxswain Aidan Bushe, mechanic Nigel Kehoe and crew members Emma Lupton, Emma Geary and Don O’Donovan — launched their all-weather lifeboat at 4.25pm following a request from the Irish Coast Guard to provide a medevac for a man on the island.
Arriving at North Harbour 25 minutes later, they transferred the casualty onboard the lifeboat and returned to station where the casualty was then handed over to the care of an HSE ambulance crew at 5.35pm.
Speaking following the callout, volunteer lifeboat press officer Kate Callanan said: “It has been a busy few days for Baltimore Lifeboat with three calls in the last five days.
“On [Saturday] 16 July the all-weather lifeboat assisted a yacht with two people on board that was in difficulty close to rocks off the eastern side of Cape Clear Island. [Tuesday night] the all-weather lifeboat rescued a lone sailor 70 miles south of Baltimore after his catamaran capsized during a race.
“We are grateful to the crews of both our all-weather lifeboat and our inshore lifeboat who are always ready to answer their pagers as soon as required. Please remember, if you find yourself in a medical emergency whilst on an island, call 999 or 112.”