On Saturday October 14th Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat Station organised a combined rescue services exercise in Dromineer Bay on Lough Derg. The exercise was organised by Fergal Kerney, RNLI Training Coordinator and Dr Peter Hooker, RNLI Medical Advisor, with help from Charles Stanley Smith, RNLI Operations Manager and Dennis Dillon, Ballina/Killaloe Search and Rescue and Fire Safety Officer at Shannon Airport. The services involved in the exercise were RNLI Lough Derg, Ballina/Killaloe Search and Rescue, Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter Unit, Valencia Coast Guard, the Civil Defence, the Ambulance Service, Doctors from Nenagh Hospital, Divers from the Nenagh and Clare Sub-Aqua units and the Gardaí.
The scenario involved a light aircraft crash on the Corragheen Islands near Dromineer, with twenty one ‘casualties’ in the water and on the islands requiring rescue or recovery. The exercise began at 9am and continued until about 3pm. Over sixty people were involved in the exercise with each service taking their role very seriously. A high level of professionalism was displayed. This is the second major disaster exercise on the lake this year. These exercises are an essential part of the training required to prepare the services involved for real emergencies. They also let members of the rescue services involved get to know one another and to understand how their respective operation procedures function and can interrelate
ENDS
Eleanor Hooker
Crew Member & LPO Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat Station |