According to official statistics compiled by the National Water Safety Forum in their 2018
Annual Fatal Incident Report, there were 13 incidents of accidental drowning that occurred in either a marina, harbour, dock or port in 2018. An additional 7 deaths have tragically been attributed to suicide. Those who drowned accidentally equate to approximately 5% of all water related fatalities that occurred throughout the UK in 2018.
In recognising the need for a swift and accurate recovery method should a person fall into the water at their marina, the team at Shamrock Quay in Southampton – part of MDL Marinas Group Ltd. – acquired a Reach and Rescue telescopic rescue pole. The telescopic rescue pole enables an individual to conduct a quick, directionally accurate rescue by retrieving a casualty from water without needing to get into the water themselves. The system therefore minimises their own risk whilst also boosting the chances of the casualty surviving.
Remarkably, the telescopic rescue pole was called into action almost immediately; three lives have been saved at Shamrock Quay since the pole’s installation. “We have used the equipment on three occasions to successfully recover persons who have accidentally fallen in the water,” says Marina Supervisor Barry Radband. “The pole has proved invaluable on every occasion allowing us to recover them back to dry land quickly and efficiently.”
Barry attributes the pole’s effectiveness at rescuing an individual from drowning to its “robust design” that is “lightweight to use.” The pole he deployed in the successful rescues featured a body hook tool attachment; this tool gave him the ability to keep the persons from submerging below the water surface by hooking beneath their body before pulling them back to dry land.
The telescopic rescue pole and body hook combination has proved so effective at Shamrock Quay that MDL Marinas Group Ltd. have now equipped every marina manager at each of their 20 marinas across the UK and Europe with the system.
By having a rescue pole stationed at every one of their marinas, the hope is that the likelihood of an individual drowning in their water will be eradicated.
It’s not just MDL Marinas Group Ltd. who are boosting the safety of the people around their water – the necessity for stringent safety measures at their commercial pier
has led marina manager Kevin Baird and his team at Quay Marinas Bangor Marina to position a Reach and Rescue telescopic rescue pole inside a water rescue system they’ve dubbed the ‘Emergency Point’. Their emergency point is an easy-access container featuring the Reach and Rescue telescopic rescue pole as the primary rescue tool amongst a range of safety equipment. The Emergency Point is intended to enhance the safety of the fishermen who work on the busy pier by giving permanent access to the equipment.
As stated by Kevin: “fishermen do fall in” the marina and whilst typical water safety equipment such as liferings are already in place on the pier, “a lifering is no use if you fall between the boat and the quay.” His team have also considered other factors that can hamper a lifering’s effectiveness. For instance, a casualty can be unconscious after falling in the water or the flow of variable tide can carry the lifering away from the casualty. The telescopic rescue pole that Kevin’s team have installed circumvents these factors.
By being an ever-present at the side of the commercial pier, the pole succeeds in being – as Kevin puts it – “an extra lifesaving piece of kit that’s proving extremely useful. It will save lives.” Marina Supervisor Barry at MDL Marinas Group Ltd. concludes: “Just knowing you have the [Reach and Rescue] equipment available for situations like this gives great piece of mind.”
Tel: +44 (0) 3301 595088
E-Mail: info@reachandrescue.com
