For over 200 years, HM Coastguard has been working tirelessly to keep people safe both at sea and on shore.
The Bridlington Echo goes behind the scenes to find out more about our own Coastguard Rescue Team.
Hanging over the edge of a 400 ft cliff may not be some people’s idea of fun….but for a group of dedicated Bridlington volunteers it’s all part of the training and rescue programmes
designed by HM Coastguard.
Now the Bridlington Coastguard Rescue Team is set to open a
recruitment window to help bolster their numbers that help to rescue
and keep people out of danger around the areas shores and cliff paths.
The organisation also works closely with the RNLI crews and help and assist the Coastguard helicopters with preparing and manning landing areas and where necessary evacuating casualties.
Their team cover a coastline sector of approximately 25 miles, from Speeton in the north of the area to Atwick in the south.
Cliff rescues, missing person searches, people cut off by incoming tides and reports of objects in the water are amongst the regular callouts.
Sadly, the team also have to recover bodies from the sea or shoreline
and there is a robust training programme to help volunteers with this part of the job.
Training is ongoing and varied and is under the watchful eye of Station Officer for the Bridlington Coastguard Team, Jordan Grebby.
Jordan said “Volunteering with His Majesty’s Coastguard as a
Coastguard Rescue Officer is a an extremely rewarding role, working
alongside our fellow emergency services to help those in need at the
coast.
“The team is made up of all types of people who give up their
time to respond to emergencies, all volunteers are trained and given
all the appropriate equipment to carry out their role.
“I can honestly say I’ve never met a better bunch of ordinary people who come together to do extraordinary things when it matters.
“This year has been a testing one
for the team, being involved in the highest incident numbers per year to date, these include searches, injured persons, persons in the water and persons down the cliff. If we
have sparked your interest even just a little bit, get in touch you will not regret it.”
This year (2024), the Bridlington team
have surpassed their previous records for callouts.
On 25th November a call-out to rescue a dog that had gone over the cliff near to Sewerby Steps took the total to 224, with over month to go before the end of the year.
Thankfully the dog was rescued uninjured.
CASE STUDY – JOHN BOWLES
I’ve always been active, through sport, and other interests, in contrast to my
sedentary finance based day job.
Working from home has its benefits, but I missed being part of an actual team rather than a virtual team.
Coupled with the desire to be part of a team, I’ve always enjoyed helping people, I have an active mind that craves mental and physical stimulation, I love to learn, and wanted to add to my first aid skills.
The Bridlington Coastguard team are from various backgrounds and ages, it’s a great mix, with availability (day, evening, night, weekends) to suit everyone.
You’ll receive extensive training before joining and ongoing training (for water and cliff rescue, casualty care and missing person searches), and we support each other along with suitable banter to make it good fun too.
If you catch the Coastguard bug, it can become very addictive.
CASE STUDY – CLIVE STEPHENSON
I’ve been with the Bridlington team for
about 8 years. The thing I enjoy most about it is the comradeship within the team.
Training is enjoyable even during the times when its freezing cold or hissing down with rain, but the enthusiasm of the team always shines through, sometimes aided with a hot cup of tea at the end.
Many incidents spring to mind during my time with Bridlington Coastguard team. I think one of the most memorable and probably the most muddiest incident was at Ulrome where both the Bridlington and Hornsea team were tasked to locate a missing male who had taken his 3 dogs for a walk and was 3 hours overdue in
freezing wind and rain.
On arrival at the caravan site several teams made up of 3 or 4 team members were tasked to search various areas.
The team I was in had only been searching for about 5 – 10 mins when we got a call to say that a police team had located the male in what was an old well.
We were the first team to arrive
at the location.
The Officer In Charge got us to set up a Quadpod
over the well to extract the casualty. Although it wasn’t
very deep the space was extremely restricted in the hole.
To cut a long story short, a dog absolutely covered in
mud was extracted to give us more room to extract the
casualty. A helicopter arrived during this operation and
a few members were dispatched to create a landing site.
The casualty, who suffering from effects of the cold, was
successfully extracted and transferred by stretcher to the
awaiting helicopter and then to Hospital.
The ”Cliff Technician” who went into the well was
absolutely covered in mud and the equipment in no
better state. It took us about 3 – 4 hours to get the
equipment to a reasonable state for use. We went back
to base the following evening to finish off cleaning the
kit it was so bad!!
Will I be sorry to leave? Yes! But it’s time to spend
more time with my family and make way for someone
else who may be interested in joining! Give it a go,
you won’t be disappointed!
Clive is pictured receiving his valedictory
certificate from Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Chief Executive Virginia McVea congratulating him
on 26 years of service to HM Coastguard.
Case Study: Clive Stephenson
Case Study: John Bowles
Interested in joining the Bridlington HM Coastguard team?
The next window for Volunteer Coastguard applications opens in early January 2025.
Look for posts on Facebook or visit the coastguard website: https://hmcoastguard.uk/
