Paddle Boarders Rescued In Forth

A multi-agency search was launched in the Firth of Forth yesterday as two stand up paddle boarders were blown away from shore by strong winds. 

The RNLI Lifeboat at Kinghorn and Queensferry were assisted by Fisherrow coastguard and a Royal Navy Sea King Helicopter. The alarm was raised via mobile phone by one of the casualties at around 11.30am. 

After a search that lasted around 90 minutes, the two female casualties, thought to be in their 50s, were found about five miles north east of Portobello by the Royal Navy Helicopter. The Kinghorn Lifeboats then recovered the two women before they were air lifted to hospital to be checked over. 

Kinghorn lifeboat helmsman, Neil Chalmers said; 

"This was a good example of team work between the various search assets. Queensferry lifeboat was initially tasked to search off Joppa, but once on-scene, the poor search conditions led to the request for Kinghorn lifeboat and the Royal Navy helicopter to assist. 

Conditions in the search area were difficult, with a Force 4 southerly wind creating waves up to 1.2m high, along with spray and a strong sunlight. 

Soon after the arrival of the helicopter, the two females were located with their boards. The helicopter crew requested the two lifeboats to assist with recovering the casualties and their boards, before assessing them.

Following initial assessment, both casualties were found to be very cold, and in the early stages of hypothermia, so the decision was made to recover them both to the helicopter for rapid evacuation to hospital. Both were winched from Kinghorn lifeboat, and flown directly to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

‘This callout had a successful outcome today, and the regular training sessions which the lifeboats and helicopter crews undertake certainly paid off. 

The two casualties were reasonably well equipped, but we would always recommend taking a handheld VHF radio, rather than relying on a mobile phone, and checking the weather forecast before participating in water sports like this.

The RNLI is currently running a campaign called ‘Respect the Water’ to raise awareness of coastal risks, and reduce the number of fatalities around the coast of the UK and Ireland. In 2013, RNLI lifeboats launched 305 times to kayakers and canoeists.''

Kinghorn lifeboat returned to station after the casualties were rescued. The crew was Neil Chalmers, Mel McGarva, Kenny Davidson, Paul Stather, and Steve Robinson. The Queensferry crew was Mike Garfitt, Andrew Ventham, Lauchie Horsburgh, and Jane Hoffma.