Date: 14/10/2009
Author: John Feltham, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer
RNLI Portsmouth Lifeboats, Hayling Mobile Coastguard Unit and ambulances raced to Gunner Point, Hayling Island yesterday evening (Wednesday 14th October) after a woman suffered a seizure on the beach.
RNLI Portsmouth inshore lifeboat, D class Brian’s Pride, was launched at 6pm to a report by Solent Coastguard that a passing yacht had received a request for assistance from a person on the shore, at the entrance of Langstone Harbour.
The lifeboat arrived on scene one minute later and put two crew members ashore to search for the casualty. They approached a dog walker who informed them that after the lady had an epileptic fit her friend walked to the Ferry Boat Inn for help. In the meantime, the casualty recovered sufficiently to enable her to walk along Hayling shore towards the Inn on the Beach about two miles away.
The second lifeboat, Atlantic 75 CSMA-Frizzell, was launched at 6.26pm to place additional crew on shore to assist Coastguards with the search as darkness had set in.
Lifeboat crews and coastguards extended the search area along the beach between Gunner Point and Ferry Boat Inn and along Hayling shore to the Inn on the Beach, but an exhaustive search found nothing.
The search teams were finally stood down by Solent Coastguard after a witness, near the Inn on the Beach, stated that persons fitting the description of the two ladies were seen to climb into a car at the seafront car park and drive away at about 6.30pm.
At 6.43pm both RNLI Portsmouth lifeboats were stood down and returned to Portsmouth lifeboat station.
RNLI volunteer helmsman, Peter Slidel, said, “We were relieved that the outcome of the incident was not a serious one.”
“However, it would have been helpful if the people, who initiated the call out of the emergency services, also informed them that their assistance was no longer required before leaving the scene of the incident.”
“This would have saved time and effort on the part of the emergency services, not to mention the cost of conducting a search on this scale.”