Following an alert by members of the public Arklow Lifeboat was launched to reports of 3 young persons in the water and in need of immediate assistance.
Following the Pager Alert on Friday at 4.05pm the Volunteer Lifeboat crew responded within minutes and proceeded to launch our all weather lifeboat Ger Tigchlearr.
Members of the public had contacted some our crew and the Irish Coastguard to alert them that there were 3 persons in the water who were in need of rescue.
Once underway the Coastguard made contact with the Lifeboat and relayed co-ordinates to commence a search for the casualties.
Some of our crew members had also proceeded along the shoreline to the location which was just off the end of a nearby breakwater at the Roadstone Quarry.
The lifeboat arrived on scene within minutes and between the spotters on shore, the members of the public and all of our crew the 3 casualties were quickly located in the water. 1 was near the beach, 1 was approx. 200metres off shore and the final casualty was approximately 500metres off shore. With the tide ebbing at the time there was significant risk of the casualties being dragged further out to sea. Thankfully they were all taken to safety quickly.
One managed to make his way to shore and the other 2 were taken aboard the lifeboat. They were assessed by the lifeboat crew. All were suffering from the effects of being immersed in cold water for a period and were tired from what they had been through.
Efforts were made to locate the vessel they had gone to sea in, but it could not be located.
All 3 were brought back to Arklow Lifeboat station where they were handed over to the waiting National Ambulance Service for further assessment and treatment.
Following the incident, Michael Fitzgerald Arklow RNLI Station Mechanic, who was on scene at the breakwater following a call from a member of the public, said,
“Thankfully we were able to rescue these 3 casualties in time, if the call had not come in early as it did and had they not made the decision to wear their personal flotation devices like they did, we may well not have had as good an outcome from this shout. I’d like to say a special word of thanks to the 3 young girls who assisted with spotting the casualties in the water. The combined efforts of our community members and our crew gave us a positive outcome. We would encourage everybody who is now going out to sea following the lock down to please be extra vigilant, always wear your lifejacket and always carry a means of calling for help.”
