How the Exmouth RNLI train to become lifesavers

On Sunday (July 1) local emergency services were invited to Exmouth lifeboat station to take part in various scenarios, played by actors.

The morning was organised by Crew volunteer and emergency doctor, Chris Marsh with the intention of setting up moulages that combined services could be called to in our area for real. These included:

• An awkward patient on a yacht - hypoglycaemic diabetic. 
• Spinal injury casualty extracted from a fishing boat on a stretcher in the survivor space of Shannon class lifeboat R and J Welburn.
• Patient with chest pain found on ramp, brought into station, collapses and goes into cardiac arrest. Defibrillator use.
• Teenager jumped off ramp into shallow water, suffered head injury and possible compressed spine injury.
• Cliff rescue – casualty fallen from cliff and found at bottom with open lower limb fracture. 
• Unconscious drowning of baby found face-down at water’s edge.
• Mass casualty - boat aground and on fire on Pole Sands with six casualties. Recovery by D class lifeboat, with an ambulance delay back at station.

Exmouth Rowing Club safety boat helm and Exmouth RNLI Deputy Launching Authority, Toby Lagus helped take the actors, dressed in wetsuits and old clothes to Pole Sands for the mock mass casualty rescue. He remained at the location until all actors were rescued. George Bearman IImade two trips to recover the casualties, so Crew volunteers had to use their skills to assess and prioritise which casualties to recover back to the beach first. In a heavy downpour, combined agencies carried the actors in stretchers coming off the lifeboat and assisted the ‘walking-wounded’ to the lifeboat station to be re-assessed and treated by further emergency service personnel.