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THE COAST GUARD saved more than 400 lives in 2018, up from 340 last year.
This figure refers to assistance provided that was it not available, would have resulted in loss of life or severe risk of loss of life or protracted hospitalisation, according to the organisation’s end-of-year review.
The Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centres (MRCCs) at Malin Head, Valentia Island and Dublin operate on a 24/7 basis.
In the past year, the three centres managed a total of 2,650 incidents, a rise when compared to 2017 (2,503 incidents).
The report notes that the Coast Guard’s core safety message is ‘Stay Afloat – Stay in Touch’.
This approach highlights the importance of never engaging in any commercial or recreational boating activity without wearing a fully serviced life jacket or personal flotation device coupled with a capacity to raise the alarm via means such as a VHF radio, personal locator beacon or mobile phone.
MRCC Dublin serves as the national point of contact for processing electronic satellite-based safety alerts.
In 2018, MRCC Dublin processed a total of 137 electronic transmissions – the majority of which proved to be false, arising from accidental activation or out-of-date equipment no longer in service.
The Coast Guard has emphasised that this should not detract from the value of such devices and highlighted the importance of all users being familiar with their operation and inbuilt test mechanisms.
Helicopters
Coast Guard helicopter services are provided under contract by CHCI, which operates a fleet of Sikorsky S92 helicopters out of bases in Dublin, Shannon, Waterford and Sligo.
Helicopter services at each of the four bases are on 15-minute standby notice by day and 45 minutes by night.
As well as its primary role of provision of maritime search-and-rescue services, the Coast Guard provides a round-the-clock medical evacuation service to the offshore islands.
In 2018, the Coast Guard flew a total of 102 medical missions from islands to the mainland, 35 more than in 2017. Coast Guard helicopters also conducted eight long-range offshore medical evacuations in addition to coastal and inshore search-and-rescue missions.
Coast Guard helicopters also provide helicopter emergency medical service for the HSE and National Ambulance Service, including inter-hospital transfers. The busiest inter-hospital transfer routes are from Letterkenny and Sligo to University Hospital Galway.
Coast Guard helicopters have flown in excess of 670 missions this year, of which 119 were conducted on behalf of the HSE. Coast Guard helicopter services also include inland searches for missing people and medical evacuations in support of An Garda Síochána and mountain rescue teams.
Volunteers
The Coast Guard has a membership of about 1,000 volunteers, with units delivering boat, cliff and shoreline search-and-rescue services as well as supporting their local communities during emergencies such as inclement weather.
“These community services were to the forefront during storm Emma in March when major challenges were experienced in reaching essential services,” the report notes.
Coast Guard volunteers provided emergency transport to healthcare staff, conducted patient transfers and provided support to isolated homes. Overall, volunteer Coast Guard units were tasked on a total of 1,185 separate occasions throughout the year.
Coast Guard Director Chris Reynolds said: “I want to particularly acknowledge the commitment and professionalism of our volunteer members.
“In addition to the three core services that they provide they are an integral part of community resilience and continually act as the eyes and ears of our RCCs in assessing and responding to any coastal emergency.”
RNLI
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is categorised as a declared resource to the Coast Guard which means that each station can be directly requested to respond to individual incidents. The RNLI was requested to launch on 836 occasions this year.
Reynolds stressed the importance of raising the alarm in time.
If you can raise the alarm and you can stay afloat then you have an outstanding chance of being rescued by our world-class rescue service.
“If you see somebody in trouble or if you think they are in trouble at sea, on the water or along the coast dial 112 or 999 and ask for the Coast Guard.”
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A hospital? What is it?
It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.
@Anto Curran: wha ?
@Anto Curran: Surely you can’t be serious
@Anto Curran: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your stewardess speaking… We regret any inconvenience the sudden cabin movement might have caused, this is due to periodic air pockets we encountered, there’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your flight… By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
@Larissa Nikolaus: I am serious and stop calling me Shirley
@Claudio Cavaliere: looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue
@john barnes: roger,roger
@john barnes: Captain how soon can we land?
I can’t tell…
You can tell me I’m a doctor!
@Trevor Wallace: Pardon me stewardess, I speak jive.
@Link: Hey, you know what they say: see a broad to get dat booty yak ‘em…
leg ‘er down a smack ‘em yak ‘em!
@Crocodylus Pontifex: Haven’t seen you in a while. Welcome back, Space Pope.
“Nervous?”
“Yes, very”
“First time?”
“No, I’ve been nervous lots of times”
Hi, Jack….
@Robc:
We have clearance Clarence, what’s our vector Victor?
@Anto Curran: Hey lil guy!! Come on in. Have you ever seen a grown man naked??
@I’m not wavy gravy: Good to be back sir
@Crocodylus Pontifex: don’t start that red zone crap with me again
@john barnes: 38 years ago today lads
@Larissa Nikolaus: He is, and don’t call him Surely!
What was it we had for dinner tonight?
Well, we had a choice of steak or fish.
Yes, I remember, I had the lasagna.
@Larissa Nikolaus: and that’s another thing don’t call me Shirley…
@john barnes: It’s really the only sensible thing to do. If its done safely, therapeutically, there’s no danger involved
@Walt Jabsco: lol that film is hilarious
@Anto Curran: ahaha he played the character so straight hilarious :P
Any chance Aer Lingus could refer to the people flying with them as “passengers” instead of “guests”? Are we meant to feel special when we are called a guest?
@Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa: I noticed that on a recent flight. Really bugged me. I paid for my tickets!
@pZTahAXy: when one AL stewardess announced that we would “deplane momentarily” I asked her if we could get off de plane, and permanently – she looked at me like I had two heads.
@Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa: When I have guests I wish I could strap them in a seat and hope they fall asleep
@Kieran Henry: Some thick beret PR guru got paid a fortune for that rubbish
@Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa: I agree, I do not know why airlines are starting to use the word guests – after all I have never been a guest on a commercial airline, I always paid and the term guest suggests non payment, it is getting silly….
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: so when you go to a hotel you don’t pay? Here’s me spending 30 years paying to be a guest in hotels.
Salmon agus salmon-eile.
No passengers were ill ? Interesting !
@Terry Cahill: more than likely all of the ill cabin crew ate in the same restaurant or cafe and that’s why the pilots and passengers were not ill
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your stewardess speaking… We regret any inconvenience the sudden cabin movement might have caused, this is due to periodic air pockets we encountered, there’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your flight… By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
@Ruairi Gagarin: Those films are hilarious after 5 pints and a couple of spliffs…. or so I’ve heard.
@Tommy Roche: I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
It will be interesting to see if the cause can be identified.
@Paul Laing: I blame the Russians!
@Colette Kearns: well of course you would.
@Paul Laing: what does that mean?
Must’ve been nice to be a “guest” of the HSE though.
I was on the flight. We returned to terminal in San Francisco before take off so a couple of passengers could disembark as they were too sick to travel. I think the cabin crew picked it up when assisting those passengers.
@Sean Farrell: If it was viral it would be highly unlikely it would spread that fast..im thinking food poisoning at a hotel perhaps.. glad more folks were not affected.
@Sean Farrell: Thank you for that interesting contribution – and it is not unheard of for this to happen, aircraft and ships worldwide…. when the Ebola virus was doing the rounds a few flights were quarantined. It is a serious decision to take but best in the long run as the process might establish what was wrong with the unloaded passengers and should there be any risk of airborne transmission then everyone on board could get proactive medical attention or at least have contact details should anything develop.
I have read the rules and would have hated to be on any flight quarantined but can understand the reasons and they include proper disease control if needed… hopefully and thankfully everything ended in a false alarm but with the rule of “better safe then sorry” and I hope it was not too much of an inconvenience or too much of a delay after such a long flight…
@Craig Barry: Something like the Ebola virus can infect people on a plane quite quickly – even something as simple as the flu virus can be transmitted via the air recycling system on an aircraft – it only takes one sneeze to pick up the flu when the virus goes airbourne….
The protocol is there and is worldwide and applies to planes and ships — I just never heard it applied to any flights landing in Ireland… but there are loads if cases worldwide for ships and planes – all very interesting – and this looks like it was a happy ending and not an airbourne infectious disease
Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.
Anyone have the fish?
I was on this fight two weeks ago from Dublin to San Francisco with my wife and kids. We were very sick (vomiting and sores around or mouths) for three days after. If it is the same plane Aer Lingus are using they should be looking at the air conditioning system. I wonder have anyone other passengers got sick after using this fight in the last few weeks.
To
… Crew probably had better food, albeit not in this case, than the passengers. They are paying for it now
Z Day People finally here, Be prepared to run fast and hit hard…………I wish you all the best of luck
I just want to tell you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.
On a serious note there is a protocol in place for aircraft (and shipping) where an unexplained illness occurs on board, then the aircraft must report this and is put into quarantine until the chief medical officer (or his representative) attends clears the passengers (and crew) to disembark and, to the best of my knowledge, the doors or the aircraft cannot be opened until allowed by the medical officer.
Why all the fuss…. well it has been not unknown for deadly infectious diseases to be carried onto a flight by an infected passenger and the air recycling can result in infecting other passengers. Maybe if there is a doctor on board that can make a diagnosis the flight does not need to be quarantined, I do not know the trigger to start the quarantine process but it happens all over the world and the protocol is part of the infectious diseases control – remember when the world was dealing with an outbreak of the Ebola virus – but I do think that is the cabin crew were all sick and no one else and none of the cockpit crew then one maybe has to look elsewhere…. just the protocol causes delays and distress to those on board… and can be scary – not sure how often it happens either here or in other countries – but a quick search will reveal the protocol and some other incidences
Nice to know that the process works – and it is why the people are not disembarked and are NOT removed to hospital until they are assessed.
Fume event?
Must have been a squeaky bum landing…
Exactly what happened to four of us a year ago on the same flight after eating shepherds pies. Would be a great idea for Aer Lingus staff to check the Best Before dates before serving their customers. I will never forget that flight feeling like puking all around the plane together with my friends. It was a great experience Aer Lingus, thank you!
Smacks of “outbreak” queue Dustin and Cuba” #Cedarfalls
The lot of you are talking rubbish,
@Philip slevin: This is great ! So entertaining !
Ladies and gentleman this is your Captain speaking, please do not be alarmed, shortly an Oxygen mask will deploy from your overhead cabin.
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