For the first time in decades, the RNLI has a new award for lifeboat crew members and lifeguards Sitting alongside the traditional Gallantry Medals, Thanks on Vellum and Framed Letters of Thanks is now the Framed Certificate for First Aid. This recognises outstanding medical assistance for life-threatening injuries administered in difficult circumstances. The Certificate was created after an incident on 4 May 2004 when Tower crew in London administered major first aid in full view of a crowd that included the casualty's family.

So far just four Certificates have been awarded, the latest being to Achill Island volunteers for the rescue described below.

Achill Island lifeboat Sam and Ada Moody launched in the early hours of 9 April 2005 to assist a woman who had had a serious cliff fall. Second Coxswain Mattie Stafford was at the helm with Mechanic Stephen McNulty and four crew members plus the station's Medical Adviser Dr Paddy Lineen.

The casualty was on the north side of Clare Island, Co. Mayo, in a remote part of the old harbour known as the Cove. Mattie took the lifeboat to within 15m of the shore then Crew Members Arthur Knipe and Dave Curtis took to the XP boat (a small powered inflatable) with a portable VHF radio, first aid kit, oxygen equipment and torches.

The lifeboat's searchlight picked up three people on top of the derelict eastern pier wall. At 4m high and just over 1 m wide, the wall was a challenge to negotiate. The casualty's head and shoulders were badly injured and Arthur and Dave ensured she was not in danger of another fall, fitted a neck collar, administered oxygen and called Dr Lineen ashore.

An airlift was planned, so the casualty had to be moved. Crew Members Alan Geilty and Michael Molloy joined their colleagues to transfer the injured woman to a stretcher - a hazardous procedure on such a narrow structure. They then embarked on a perilous and physically demanding 430m climb up a rough, narrow track. Beyond the lifeboat's searchlight, their torches began to fade too - before long, they were walking in virtual darkness.

Meanwhile the casualty was deteriorating. At last, she was transferred to the Irish Coast Guard helicopter. The five volunteers made their way back along the track with all their equipment and returned to the lifeboat by the XP boat at approximately Sam.

Crew Members Dave Curtis and Arthur Knipe and Lifeboat Medical Adviser Dr Paddy Lineen all receive the RNLI's Framed Certificate for First Aid..