On Friday night 1st August, Stratford BSAC hosted an online presentation by the RNLI to a well-attended audience at the football club followed by an Indian meal in Tiddington. Thanks go to Andy, Simon and Dominic for their organisation and IT wizardry.
The interactive presentation by Nick Fletcher, RNLI, kept us enthralled for an hour with no charge but the promise of a donation from the club which we will honour.
Having failed to purloin the PowerPoint, I captured some notes which I have shared below. There was some familiar information and some new points which made this all the more interesting.
Those that attended now know about “Parbuckling” and how it can be used to rescue divers to a rib. For those who didn’t, look it up or by one of us a drink and we’ll explain it to you😊
Here are some key points in bullet point format:
60% of the RNLI’s annual funding comes from Wills. There’s usually a story behind each donation.
The annual bill for the service is £188m or £515,000 per day.
In 2023, there were 39680 incidents. 506 of these were deemed to be lives saved.
98% of all incidents occur within ten miles of the shore. This is a recent phenomenon as, historically, a higher proportion were fishing and commercial vessels further out to sea.
The increase is due to the rise in pleasure craft, water sports and the fastest growing group – self harm / suicide attempts. This is true around the UK coastline and isn’t confined to one region.
The RNLI can operate up to 100 miles offshore, but most are local. They can decline a response if it is deemed frivolous or dangerous even by their standards.
Divers account for a small proportion of incidents each year, but they tend to be more severe in nature.
Of these, 30 included the involvement of a helicopter.
There is a little-known group called the British Diving Safety Group, BDSG, that has all diving agencies and rescue bodies involved within the UK. Egos and hierarchies are left at the door and all bodies (BSAC, PADI, NAUI, SAA etc. collaborate readily to address safety issues and trends. One recent example of their action was to bring about a ban on certain surface demand products that were unregulated, safety tested and proved to be hazardous. The RNLI and Coastguard are also active members within this group.
The RNLI support the use of PRB/ERPB devices and suggest taking them abroad when diving. There are merits and disadvantages of each type of device, and it is easily researched.
Parbuckling was discussed and we were advised to try the technique when we have the opportunity with the rib.
The I.P.O. raised it’s head and again we were advised to read up and be aware of the cause and management of a related incident.
Nick advised that all ambulance crews carry check card covering certain incident types. These include scuba diving and the avoidance of Entonox under certain circumstances such as suspected DCI. If we are involved in a handover to an ambulance crew, don’t ’t be shy in advising them to check their cards.
The RNLI predominantly work through the Coast Guard but are independent and do not have to respond to any given “shout”.
They are introducing a new style of inshore lifeboat later this year. The choice of vessel has no bearing on cost but is a function of the statistics surrounding the type and frequency of incidents in any given area. Smaller, nimbler vessels will be introduced that are larger than the smaller ribs but smaller than the big, offshore craft. The change in vessel type is driven by the increase in inshore water sports, jet skiing, kite surfing and open water swimming, and those that self-harm.
On a positive note, the RNLI like to be invited to run joint safety training exercises with boats and divers, We will explore this further. We were advised to pick our location and timing and to avoid highly trafficked areas in high season such as the Solent or Plymouth when their resources are more stretched.
Now go and look up “Parbuckling”.
We are hoping to announce further presentations as these seem to be popular and informative.
Safe diving.
Nigel
