There’s no mistaking an RNLI lifeboat – but what are all those other craft in the lifesaving team?

When RNLI lifeboat volunteers answer the call for help, they are launching to the front line in a battle to save lives – but a lifeboat is never completely on its own. A host of state and independent bodies is ready in support.

In the UK, it’s usually HM Coastguard (part of the Government's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, or MCA) that requests the charity's lifeboats launch and coordinates the operation. It might draw in other search and rescue (SAR) organisations or even passing shipping. And, often, the MCA’s involvement doesn’t end there – it has a variety of ‘assets’ of its own that it can deploy.

RNLI lifeboats are designed to have excellent pulling power but some stricken vessels are simply too heavy to tow to safety quickly. That’s where the MCA’s emergency towing vessels come in: four tugs strategically placed near busy shipping lanes to assist oil tankers and other large vessels.

Back on the shore, there are volunteer coastguard rescue teams trained to investigate, survey and report maritime emergencies. They’re often involved in shore searches and some teams specialise in cliff and mud rescues. Bob Bradfield, the RNLI’s Senior Engineering Designer, has been a Coastguard volunteer for 26 years. ‘We are the eyes on the scene, reporting back to our division – in our case Portland Coastguard – and if necessary we can request a helicopter or lifeboat, although most of the time lifeboats get called the same time as us,’ he explains. ‘The Government provides our uniforms and wet-weather protection as well as training – which includes driving instruction both on and off road and first aid. I find it really interesting, and I think of it like being a very grown-up boy scout!’

Sometimes, lifeboat crews and Coastguard teams need a little help from above. The MCA operates four SAR helicopters and can request the launch of eight others operated by the UK military. In the right conditions, an aerial search can be invaluable and casualty evacuation swift. Of the thousands of rescues lifeboat crews carry out each year, about a tenth have some sort of SAR helicopter involvement.

As its slogan ‘Safer lives, safer ships, cleaner seas’ suggests, the MCA’s responsibilities go beyond SAR – they also include enforcing international safety standards for craft and protecting the marine environment. Its fleet of rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) enable boarding of ships for inspection, and two counter-pollution aircraft are used for surveillance of, for example, oil spills and to spray dispersant.

Sea defences

Another aircraft surveying UK waters is the RAF’s SAR Nimrod. This huge aeroplane can fly 800 nautical miles from her base at Kinloss in Morayshire and search for up to 5 hours. Kinloss is also home to the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre, which handles all UK military SAR assets. These include six RAF helicopters based at Boulmer,Chivenor, Leconfield, Valley and Wattisham, and two Royal Navy helicopters at Culdrose and Prestwick.

Naval ships, too, can help save lives at sea. In May 2009, Brixham Coastguard requested that both the Salcombe RNLI lifeboat and HMS Mersey – an offshore fishery protection patrol vessel – go to the aid of a yacht off south Devon. Naval personnel found that a mooring rope from a fishing float had fouled the yacht’s propeller. They tended to the seasick couple onboard, cut the yacht free and helped attach a tow rope from the lifeboat.

Taking flight

In the RoI, the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) has a similar role to its UK counterpart: providing SAR response, enforcing safety standards and controlling pollution and salvage. Its volunteer coastal units are trained to search the shoreline and carry out coast and cliff rescue. The IRCG also operates four SAR helicopters.

In September 2009, the IRCG helicopter based at Dublin Airport joined forces with Dun Laoghaire RNLI inshore lifeboat to rescue two kitesurfers. They were stranded on a rocky breakwater and the helicopter winchman was lowered to them. He checked that they were uninjured and helped to transfer them to the lifeboat, which took all three to safety.

On the Channel Islands, which are Crown dependencies but not part of the UK, maritime rescue coordination centres are managed by the States of Jersey and Guernsey and work with the UK and French Coastguards. Operations often involve the RNLI lifeboats from St Helier, St Peter Port, St Catherine or Alderney, and the Jerseybased fixed-wing SAR aircraft The Islander. This aeroplane is run by the charity Channel Islands Air Search, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary.

There’s also a purpose-built floating ambulance that serves the islands, operated by the St John Ambulance and Rescue Service of Guernsey. The Flying Christine III is used to attend to casualties on ships and the smaller islands such as Sark and Herm and take them to Guernsey for transfer to hospital.

Although not designed specifically for sea rescue, air ambulances (usually helicopters) can be vital in getting casualties to hospital quickly once they’ve been rescued. The Scottish National Health Service provides an air ambulance, while the Wales Air Ambulance and English regional services are funded by charities. As the Lifeboat went to press, the RoI remained the only country in the European Union without a dedicated air ambulance. However, the All Ireland Air Ambulance Service has announced plans to have two helicopters operational by 1 March.

Coastal air ambulance crews often work with RNLI lifeguards. On 18 September 2009, two RNLI lifeguards on patrol at Gyllyngvase beach near Falmouth, Cornwall, spotted a swimmer struggling to return to shore through breaking waves. The lifeguards rescued her, began first aid and requested the Cornwall Air Ambulance helicopter, which arrived and took the woman to Treliske Hospital.

Helping the RNLI lifeguards clear a safe landing area that day was Melissa Reed, Junior Coach at the local surf lifesaving club. There are many such clubs around the UK, promoting the skills, fitness and safety knowledge required to save lives on the beach. Most are affiliated with the Surf Life Saving Association of Great Britain (SLSGB) and the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS).

Since the RNLI introduced its lifeguarding service in 2001, a strong partnership has developed between SLSGB and the institution. Many club members go on to become RNLI lifeguards, and the help of clubs has been invaluable in encouraging people with beach safety and rescue skills to give their time and expertise for free. Volunteers from all walks of life gave more than 3,500 hours of their time to supplement lifeguard cover in the UK last Summer. (See page 13 for more.)

999 afloat

Another strong lifesaving relationship has developed between the RNLI and police forces in Pembrokeshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. As part of the Beach Beat initiative, some police community support officers have been trained to RNLI lifeguard standard. They can deal with issues that often fall to lifeguards – such as lost property and missing children – and enforce local by-laws, which lifeguards don’t have the power to do. Beach Beat officers also have the skills to provide beach safety advice and carry out rescues. (See page 27.)

Some police forces venture beyond the surf, and their boats may look rather familiar. Kent Police bought the RNLI’s prototype Tamar class lifeboat in 2007, rebranding it for high-visibility patrols alongside the force’s two RIBS. Similarly, two of Dorset Police’s patrol RIBs are Atlantic 75 lifeboats leased from the charity. ‘This is a huge benefit to the force and the marine community,’ says Dorset Police Spokesman Paul Chick. ‘The RNLI is regarded as a world leader in building and maintaining craft.’

Fire and rescue services with areas of coastline on their patch also have an offshore remit. Created in 2006, the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) comprises teams from 15 fire and rescue services trained to respond to fire, chemical hazard or other specialist rescue at sea.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service’s MIRG team was called into action for the first time in February 2009 in an operation that also involved the Humber RNLI lifeboat and an RAF SAR helicopter. The helicopter winched the firefighters aboard a cargo vessel to tackle a blaze that had broken out in the engine room, while Humber’s Severn class prepared for any evacuation – fortunately not needed.

In exchange, the charity’s rescuers have also worked alongside fire crews inland, in the guise of the RNLI Flood Rescue Team (FRT) sponsored by Goodyear. ‘We’re passionate about safety, so we're very proud to support the FRT,’ says Goodyear’s Michelle Fisher. ‘We have donated £50,000 for the team’s training and equipment over 2009–10.’

The infamous North Sea tidal surge of January 1953, with the resulting loss of 2,100 lives in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, is yet to be repeated but lifesaving organisations across northern Europe know it’s only a matter of time. That’s why, last Autumn, the RNLI FRT joined fire and rescue teams from the UK, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Estonia and the Netherlands in a mass training exercise: FloodEx09.

Members of the team used their high standard of training for real in November, when record-breaking rainfall swamped Cockermouth and Keswick in Cumbria (pictured). RNLI volunteers and staff travelled to Cumbria from Swanage and Poole in the south of England, Stocktonon- Tees, Scarborough, Redcar, Staithes and Runswick, Silloth, Morcambe, Hartlepool and Blyth in the north of England, and Criccieth, Conwy, Llandudno, Moelfre, Rhyl, Flint, Beaumaris and Pwllheli in Wales.

Sarah Nimmo-Scott, RNLI Deputy Divisional Inspector North, was leading one of the teams in Cockermouth. She says: ‘The situation was dreadful. It was dark and windy and we were dealing with deep, fast flowing, turbulent water and generally awful conditions. But the RNLI Flood Rescue Team is specially trained to deal with these situations and coped brilliantly. The RNLI evacuated dozens of people.’

Saving lives inland is also the aim of a maritime rescue charity that’s even older than the RNLI. The Glasgow Humane Society, which was founded in 1790, rescues people from the River Clyde and other city waterways. Its lifeboat is one of several small independent services that share the RNLI’s ethos.

Taken together, the many Government and charitable SAR organisations described provide a formidable ring of safety around the British Isles, with the RNLI the one constant presence throughout. See page 24 for a prime example of cross-border multiagency work – and a gallantry medal.