A walker who’d fallen and injured her leg at Dancing Ledge along the Purbeck coast had to be stretchered onto the Swanage inshore lifeboat, in order to get her to hospital.
Following the emergency call, the coastguard was called and both Swanage lifeboats were launched just after 2 pm on Thursday 25th November 2021.
The coastguard teams from St Albans and Swanage arrived first at the scene and assessed the injured woman.
The inshore lifeboat was able to return back to Swanage Lifeboat Station after transferring the injured woman to the all weather lifeboat
Evacuation by sea
It was decided that an evacuation by sea was the safest and quickest option due to the remote location and the steep hill back to the road.
The Swanage inshore lifeboat (ILB) was able to come in close to the rock ledge, bringing with it, pain-relieving gas from the all weather lifeboat (ALB), that as a larger boat had to stay further out to sea.
Swanage Lifeboat Station reported:
“A short time later the casualty was transferred by stretcher via the ILB to the more comfortable ALB for passage back to shore.
“An ambulance was requested, and a rendezvous arranged at the chain ferry steps.”
The woman was taken in the all weather lifeboat to Poole Harbour, where she was then transferred to the ambulance, waiting by the Sandbanks Ferry jetty near the Haven Hotel.
She was then able to complete her journey to hospital by road.
The Swanage all weather lifeboat was called to a second incident, not returning to the lifeboat station until just after 5 pm
Check on a yacht being towed
Just as the lifeboat was about to return to the Swanage Lifeboat Station, it was asked to check on a yacht being towed towards Poole Harbour.
The yacht had broadcast a ‘Pan Pan’ urgency message after suffering equipment failure and another vessel had responded and taken the yacht in tow.
The lifeboat was soon alongside the two boats, just outside the entrance to Poole Harbour.
Swanage Lifeboat Station said:
“The towing boat was happy to pass the tow to the more powerful lifeboat as progress was very slow against the tide.”
The lifeboat then towed the yacht to Poole Quay Yacht Haven where it was secured to a pontoon.
Following the two separate rescues the crew on the all weather boat was able to return to Swanage, arriving back at the lifeboat station just after
5 pm.
