Hunstanton’s lifeboat life-savers
AT LEAST two people are believed to owe their lives to prompt action by Hunstanton’s lifeboat in the past year.
RNLI press officer Geoff Needham said volunteer crew members had continued to provide a vital service to people in trouble off the West Norfolk coast.
One example was a kayaker whose craft had overturned in bad weather conditions and heavy swell at Heacham. He had been in the water for 45 minutes and was waving frantically for help.
The Spirit of West Norfolk lifeboat, bought by Lynn News readers, arrived within seven minutes of launching.
The crew helped the man from the water and gave him first aid before passing him into the care of paramedics.
Last week, crews rescued a kite surfer who had become tangled in his lines off Hunstanton. The 20-year-old was spotted by passers-by who raised the alarm. Mr Needham said: “He was very lucky. When the crew picked him up, he had been out there for 40 minutes and wasn’t responding.”
Suffering from hypothermia, he was treated by paramedics and taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital from where he was later discharged.
RNLI statistics for 2011 show the lifeboat was launched 18 times and 11 people were rescued, compared with 29 launches and 18 rescues in 2010.
Mr Needham said it was possible people were listening to sea safety messages and taking fewer risks. “Programmes like Seaside Rescue are bringing the dangers to people’s attention and they may be being a bit more wary,” he said.
The statistics did not reflect occasions when the lifeboat crew was alerted and asked to assist but stood down before launching.
“Members of the public get concerned about a missing child or people getting cut off by the tide or drifting out to sea. Even if we do not launch, we would always rather have a call than not,” said Mr Needham.
A significant number of call-outs were due to inadequate maintenance, including boats running out of fuel or developing blockages in their fuel lines because they had not been used for a time. “With foresight, these could be avoided,” he said.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
