Tag Archives: Rescue 115

A man had to be airlifted to hospital after he suffered an injury while hiking in North Clare. The alarm was raised shortly after 2pm on Sunday afternoon when emergency services received a report that a person had fallen in The Burren. The incident occurred on Blackhead Mountain in the extreme northwest of the county. The National Ambulance Service, Irish Coast Guard and Gardaí were alerted and responded the area. The Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter was also tasked to the scene. At the time, Rescue 115 was involved in a missing person search in the Woodford area of Galway but was retasked to Blackhead, reaching the scene in about 10 minutes. Because of the terrain in the area however, the helicopter was unable to land. Instead, the helicopter winchman/paramedic was lowered onto the mountainside. Doolin Coast Guard volunteers lay down a canister of orange smoke to indicate the location of the casualty and wind direction for the helicopter crew. …

A man has died in hospital after he got into difficulty while swimming in North Clare on Tuesday evening. Two people were reported to have been in danger after they were pulled out to sea at Fanore at around 9.15pm. The alarm was raised and a search and rescue operation was quickly mounted. The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard, National Ambulance Service and Gardaí responded to the scene. The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also tasked to the incident. On arrival at the scene, emergency services found that a young child had been taken to safety by others in the area while the helicopter crew carried out a search for the man. The man was quickly located and the helicopter winchman/paramedic was lowered into sea to pluck the casualty from the water. Efforts to resuscitate the man were quickly carried out on board the helicopter as he was flown to University Hospital Galway. The helicopter …

PAUL Truss has just marked 20 years of service with the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115. A winch operator, he is from England originally, and explaining how he ended up working over here, he says, “I was in the Royal Navy, did 15 years flying in the Royal Navy, mostly anti submarine warfare, but I spent the last ten years in Prestwick which was anti-submarine warfare and search and rescue. When I left the Navy there was a job vacancy here in Ireland, so I put in for it, came over for the interview and started in April 2001.” Working with the Coast Guard means coming face to face with life and death situations on a fairly regular basis and Paul says the goal is to save as many people as is possible. “There have been numerous jobs where lives have been saved. Unfortunately not all lives can be saved, but that’s what we strive for,” said Paul. While …

THE crew of Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, were on standby during the early hours of Monday morning to assist the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. After the launch, Brendan Meehan, Chief Crewman Standards with Rescue 115, told The Clare Champion, that the Shannon crew were prepared to rescue the four astronauts on board in the event the mission was forced to abort before making it into orbit, and touchdown in the Atlantic Ocean anywhere between 50 and 200km off the Clare coast. “It’s quite an unusual event, and I suppose the chances of us being called to action were probably slim. Nonetheless, we were ready to fly out to rescue the astronauts on board. We had been briefed on the make-up of the capsule, how the hatches open and how it would be sitting in the water. “Our job would be to fly out to the capsule, collect the astronauts and bring …

A 58 year old Clonlara man has died following a fall while climbing Carrauntoohill in Kerry on Saturday. The task of recovering Ger Duffy, a father of three, took a  number of hours due to the difficult terrain. The accident happened at about 12 noon on Saturday. Rescue 115 was alerted but could not land on the terrain. The Kerry Mountain Rescue Team led the search and recovery operation.

A visitor to Kilkee died tragically at the weekend, when he drowned while at the bottom of a cliff on the Dunlickey Road in Kilkee. It is believed that the man was taking photographs. The man is understood to be a Hungarian national who had been living in Galway. The alarm was raised on Saturday afternoon with the local coast guard and Rescue 115 joining in the search, along with Kilrush gardaí. The man was located and brought to University Hospital Limerick where he subsequently died.

A woman was rescued from the sea off Liscannor yesterday after she got into difficulty while kayaking. Four kayakers had set out from Liscannor Bay when one of the group fell into the water after her craft capsized. She was unable to climb back onto the kayak and the alarm was raised. The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, and the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard were alerted. The crew of the fishing boat Gillstiffen that had been in the area at the time diverted to the area and located the kayakers. The woman, who had been in the water for a time, was taken on board by the fisherman and take back to Liscannor Harbour. The incident came just days after a father and son ghad to be rescued in Galway Bay after their inflatable kayak capsized. They were located by the crew of Rescue 115 after they climbed onto an anchored boat and waited …