Baltimore RNLI’s volunteers were called out on Wednesday evening (30 September) to a medevac on Cape Clear Island off the coast of West Cork.
Following a request from the Irish Coast Guard to provide a medical evacuation for a child living on the island who had sustained an injury following a fall, the crew launched their all-weather lifeboat at 5.20pm, arriving at Cape Clear’s North Harbour 20 minutes later.
After a handover from the nurse on the island to one of the volunteer casualty care lifeboat crew members, the casualty was quickly transferred on to the lifeboat which then returned to station in Baltimore, arriving at 6.05pm.
There were six volunteer crew onboard the lifeboat: coxswain Aidan Bushe, mechanic Jerry Smith and crew members Micheal Cottrell, Ollie O’Mahony, Stuart Musgrave and Brian McSweeney. Conditions at sea were breezy with a south-westerly Force 5 wind, and a 1.5-metre sea swell.
Speaking following the call-out, Kate Callanan, Baltimore RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer said: “This was a very fast shout for our lifeboat crew with less than an hour from pagers going off to the lifeboat returning from the call.
“Please remember, should you get into difficulty or have a medical emergency at sea or on an island, call 999 or 112 and ask for the coastguard.”
