Record breaking year for Coastguard rescue team

Record breaking year for Coastguard rescue team

11 January 2012

SOUTH Down Coastguard team is one of the busiest in Ireland following another record breaking year of emergency call outs.

The team, which looks after the coastline from Carlingford Lough to Strangford Lough, responded to 94 call outs in 2011, significantly up on the previous year.

Twenty five of those call outs involved working with the Irish Coastguard helicopter from Dublin and included a wide variety of incidents along the coastline and inland.

Two of the most significant incidents occurred in Dundrum Inner Bay within a few weeks of each other. Seven children and two adults were rescued from mud at the Murlough

Nature Reserve end of the bay while four teenagers were rescued from rising water towards the Blackstaff Bridge end of the bay.

The leader of the local team, Station Officer John Lowry, said the increase in local call outs mirrored the Northern Ireland trend.

“The large Coastguard teams in Northern Ireland have all reported an increase in activity and certainly in South Down we saw a big increase in the number of emergencies we had to respond to,” said John.

“We saw a lot more call outs relating to the fishing fleets in the area, particularly involving vessels from Ardglass, and we had several extended operations such as the recent search in the Carlingford area for a canoeist who tragically lost his life.

“We have also assisted out colleagues in the other branches of the emergency services,

such as when we were called to Cabra to assist a man who had become trapped in farm machinery and who needed to be evacuated by the Coastguard helicopter.

“We have also assisted our colleagues in the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team,” added John.

With the number of emergencies on the increase, John repeated the advice often given by the Coastguard to people visiting the coast or venturing onto the water.

“Never take the sea for granted,” he said. “It is a wonderful place to enjoy and on which to relax but it is an incredibly dangerous and unforgiving environment which must be respected at all times.

“Be aware of the weather conditions and plan carefully before venturing out and at all times be aware of the risks,” he added.