Harbour rescue saves unconscious manMost of Oban was safely tucked up in bed when the lifeboat crew's pagers sounded at 12.50am on Monday, 16 April. Clyde Coastguard had received a report of a man in the water just off South Pier, in Oban Harbour. Second coxswain David Graham and crew member Ronnie MacKillop were at the station within two minutes and, as the lifeboat station is next to the pier, they took a few moments to assess the situation from the shore.

The local Coastguard team told them that there was a man in the water between two fishing vessels. He had been in for about 15 minutes and was starting to suffer from cold and exposure. A second man was also in the water, holding on to a harbour ladder. Realising that someone would have to go in to help the men out, Ronnie volunteered to put on his drysuit so he could enter the water.

The lifeboat launched just 4 minutes after the pagers had gone off and arrived on scene just 1 minute later. To reach the area where the two men were, David had to manoeuvre around a raft of fishing boats five deep before putting the lifeboat alongside the starboard side of a second raft of two fishing boats. It was between these two boats that the casualties were trapped.

As soon as the lifeboat was alongside, Ronnie carefully dropped into the water, glad of the protection of his drysuit and lifejacket. Despite the confused seas, he managed to swim round the bow of the first boat into the gap between them. Once in the gap, he found one man in a life ring being held onto by a fisherman stood on a tyre fender. He reached the man and conducted a rapid assessment of his condition. The man appeared unconscious and was certainly past helping himself.

Ronnie realised that it would be difficult to pull the unconscious man from the water in the confined space, so decided to tow him back to the lifeboat.

He tried to start towards the lifeboat but realised that the life ring was tied to the fishing boat. He shouted up at the fishing crew to release it but because of the noise of the wind and the general hubbub at the scene it was a few minutes before he could make those in the boat understand. Once they realisedwhat he wanted, he was able to swim around the bow of the fishing boat towing the unconscious man, taking care he didn't slip out of the life ring.

By the time Ronnie reached the lifeboat he was getting very tired and realised he would need help to finish the rescue. He shouted for assistance and Keith Burnett, who was also wearing a dry suit, came into the water to help. The two men were then able to tow the casualty round to the starboard side of the lifeboat where the crew on board were able to reach down and haul him aboard. Unfortunately the A frame lifting device, ideal for this task, couldn't be used because of the confined area. Ronnie and Keith decided to swim to shore, as this would allow the lifeboat to return more quickly to the boathouse with the casualty.

As soon as the two crew members were safely away from the lifeboat, David returned to shore while the other crew members treated the casualty. An ambulance was waiting on shore and the still-unconscious man was taken straight to hospital. David then returned to the sight of the incident to check that everyone was out of the water and safe. He found one of the fishermen being treated for the effects of hypothermia and decided the safest method of landing him to the ambulance was on the lifeboat. Once this man was safely in the hands of the paramedics, David took the lifeboat back toils berth.THE LIFEBOAT Trent class lifeboat ON-1227 Mart Edith MicDonatd Bi-ili 1996 COS! £1.175m Funding Btquest from Mi» Mof« Edith Mac Donald, together with the bequests of Mrs Janet Boyd Finlay- Mnclean. Mrs Harriett Elizabeth Willis Gaunt and Mrs Annia Thomson Hart THE CREW Chairman's Lattar of Thanhs Craw member Bonnie MicKillop for h:s 'date i mm a Iron to succeed despite the conditions' Joined crew 1997 Occupation Painter and Dec or at ot Second Coxswain David Graham Mechanic Jam** Watson Deputy Second Co«s«ain William Forteith Second Mechanic Keith Burnett OBAN LIFEBOAT STATION Established 1972 Previous Medals Thanks on Vellum 1985 THE CASUALTY Unconscious man m wale' THE CONDITIONS Weather Overcast Visibility Good Wind NNW Force 7 Sea Stale 1m swell confined by the backwash from the harbour walls and moored fishing vessels.