At 19:40 this evening, the Coast Guard received a report of two adults in need of assistance off the coast of Skerries. The two adults were spotted departing on two motor dinghies the previous evening and had not returned, their vehicles still parked up at the shore, raising concerns. The Skerries Coast Guard team were immediately tasked to begin a coastal search. Fortunately, local Gardai were able to trace the identities of the two through their car registration numbers and the Coast Guard was able to make contact with the two adults and establish their exact location

The two had ventured out to St Patrick’s island, off the Skerries coast and planned to return on the Sunday, however poor weather conditions had hampered their plans. The Skerries lifeboat was requested to return them safely from the island to Skerries harbour where they met with a Coast Guard team. Thankfully both adults were unharmed.

Remember – if you think someone could be in difficulty on the coast, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save a life!

Incident # 12 of 2011

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At 23:00, Skerries Coast Guard were tasked to investigate reports of lights on Shenick Island, off the coast of Skerries. A concerned member of the public at the nearby headland of Red Island had spotted lights on Shenick Island. They were concerned that someone may have been stranded by the incoming tide and was trapped on the island overnight. The Skerries Coast Guard team conducted a search of the area and observed the reported lights. These appeared to be originating from a small fishing vessel stationed on the Eastern side of the island, there did not appear to be anyone on the island itself. With no further action required the Skerries team were stood down for the night.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty on the coast, even if you only think they could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident # 11 of 2011

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At 14:21 this afternoon, the Skerries Coast Guard team were tasked to investigate reports of a boat in difficulty at Skerries. Concerned members of the public had contacted the Coast Guard on 999 as the boat appeared to be in difficulty, with possible onboard mechanical failure.

Within minutes, Skerries Coast Guard personnel arrived at Red Island, near Skerries harbour and quickly located the boat, not far from the shoreline. The boat appeared to be engaged in fishing and after observing for a time, the Skerries team concluded that the boat did not require assistance.

Incident #4 of 2011

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At 04:26 this morning, Skerries Coast Guard were tasked by the Coast Guard’s maritime operations centre to investigate public reports of persons in difficulty on one of the islands off Skerries. Given the recent spring tides, there was concern that persons may have ventured out to the island on foot and been cut off by the incoming tide.

The Skerries Coast Guard team arrived at the South Strand, Skerries and observed the island, noting several lights along the island’s shoreline. After, surveying the area, the Skerries Coast Guard team concluded that the persons were not in difficulty and no further assistance was required.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty along the coast, or even if you think that someone may be in difficulty, dial 112 or 999 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident #3 of 2011

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This evening, the Skerries Coast Guard team took part in a large scale search and rescue training exercise. The search area was focused on the headland of Red Island, near Skerries harbour. The exercise was based on the scenario of a person reported missing, last seen in the Red Island area before darkness fell. Following the initial search brief, each of the teams dispersed to their respective search areas and the systematic search of the area commenced. Despite the challenging terrain and poor on scene weather conditions, the casualty was successfully located.

At this point, the exercise moved to the rescue aspect as the Skerries Coast Guard team demonstrated their casualty assessment and emergency first aid skills.

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At daybreak this morning, the volunteers of Skerries Coast Guard took part in their first training exercise of 2011. The team joined forces with the crew of the Coast Guard’s Dublin based Sikorsky S-61N helicopter (EI-MES) for some routine training.

The chosen landing site was at Red Island, near Skerries harbour with on scene weather conditions proving favourable to the training event.  After landing and rotor shutdown, the Skerries team were given an excellent ground briefing by the helicopter crew. This served as a useful refresher on helicopter operations, landing site selection & preparations, comms, embarking & disembarking techniques, winching, and the helicopter’s search & rescue equipment.

Once the ground briefing was completed, the team then took part in a practical winching exercise with the helicopter. The recent new additions to the Skerries team also took part in a familarisation flight along the coast.

]]> http://www.skerriescoastguard.com/2011/01/02/training-with-coast-guard-helicopter-5/feed/ 0 http://www.skerriescoastguard.com/2009/05/31/helicopter-training/ http://www.skerriescoastguard.com/2009/05/31/helicopter-training/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 09:24:24 +0000 admin http://www.skerriescoastguard.com/?p=528

This morning, the volunteers of Skerries Coast Guard undertook regular training with the Coast Guard Sikorsky S-61N Rescue helicopter at Red Island, Skerries. This involved selecting and preparing the Red Island landing site, with excellent weather conditions prevailing on scene.

The volunteers received a refresher ground briefing on all operational aspects of the Coast Guard helicopter and its capabilities.

Several volunteers took part in a familiarisation flight along the Coast towards the Skerries team’s Northern SAR boundary of Laytown.

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This evening, the Volunteers of Skerries Coast Guard took part in a night search and rescue exercise.

A search of Red Island was conducted using 2 teams. A casualty was located and was assessed,treated and evacuated by stretcher to an area suitable for extraction by helicopter.

This exercise included training in search techniques, first aid, radio communications and team work.

Weather conditions on the night were fair with good visibility in a moderate S.W. breeze

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Weather conditions were favourable, with good visibility and freshening Southerly winds. All of the Skerries Coast Guard team had an opportunity to experience a flight in the helicopter.

Further rescue training took place on St. Patrick’s island, one of the three uninhabited islands off the coast of Skerries.

Once again, our thanks to the Dublin Coast Guard helicopter crew for a fantastic joint training exercise.

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The object of the exercise was to facilitate a helicopter landing under cover of darkness

A landing site was selected on Red Island, Skerries and the volunteers quickly cordoned, prepared and set up the designated landing site. The Irish Coast Guard helicopter (EI-RCG) made their approach and performed a brief landing, simulated casualty evacuation and departure.

The Coast Guard helicopter did some demonstration of their night time illumination equipment or “Night Sun”. This is used for night searches or night approaches for landing the aircraft. The Night Sun is remotely controlled by a crewman from within the helicopter and has a strength of 30 million candlepower.

Some of the Skerries volunteers also had a brief look at how the Helicopter crew uses F.L.I.R (Forward Looking Infra Red) technology to locate persons using thermal imagery.  

Weather conditions on scene were fair with a cold, light to moderate SW breeze.

Our thanks to the crew of EI-RCG for another professional job well done!

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