Coastguard Rescue Teams on the Isle of Wight – located at Bembridge, Ventnor and The Needles – are looking for new recruits to join the fourth emergency service.
HM Coastguard works to prevent the loss of life on the coast and at sea and provides a 24hr maritime search and rescue service around the UK. In total, 3 rescue teams operate on the Island supported by the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter based at Lee-on-Solent, as well as a number of RNLI and independent lifeboats.
Men and women aged 18 or over who live or work within 15 minutes of Bembridge, Ventnor or Freshwater are needed to help boost the number of Coastguard Rescue Officers (CROs) operating across the Island. No prior experience is necessary.
You may have seen the Coastguard responding on blue lights and sirens to one of the many emergencies they attend each month. Incidents can vary from assisting the Police in searching for a vulnerable missing person to carrying out a challenging cliff rescue, or perhaps packaging a seriously injured casualty for an immediate airlift to hospital.
Coastguard Rescue Officers are given specialist training to become qualified in rope rescue, water rescue, mud rescue, search techniques, communications, pyrotechnics and first aid and although officers are classed as volunteers, they are reimbursed financially.
Training is held once a week and volunteers must get permission from employers to leave work to attend life-saving emergencies, alerted by a mobile pager system.
All applicants should be in good health with a reasonable standard of fitness (weigh less than 120kg with a waist under 110cm) and hold a UK driving licence with less than 6 penalty points.
Anyone interested in joining the team should email [email protected] stating which station is of interest. Alternatively, you can message Bembridge Coastguard, Ventnor Coastguard or Needles Coastguard on Facebook for more information.
Further details of what you can expect as a Coastguard Rescue Officer can be found at https://www.gov.uk/volunteer-as-a-coastguard/what-to-expect-as-a-volunteer.
Here is a little taste of what the Coastguard get up to, as captured on camera by Island Echo…
Hope all are safe