Scenario proves worth of Sealegs

Over the summer holidays Coastguard Hibiscus had a number of callouts, mainly to boaties’ routine mechanical breakdowns. Among the other types of incidents we dealt with was the occasion when a man slipped on rocks at Granny’s Bay (the next bay north from Long Bay) and fell into the water. He remained there for up to 15 minutes before members of the public on the beach managed to pull him out of the water. During the mishap the man sustained injury, including two suspected dislocated knees.

Due to the fact that Granny’s Bay beach has no road access, ambulance crews could not gain access to the injured person via land and so Hibiscus Rescue 2 (Sealegs) was tasked to respond from Stanmore Bay. The Sealegs went firstly to Long Bay, where two ambulance crew and their equipment were collected, and then transported by sea to the patient at Granny’s Bay. Our amphibious rescue vessel then drove onto the beach and transported the ambulance crew and equipment across land to within 50 metres of the injured person on the rocks. When the Sealegs arrived, the man’s rescuers and some other beachgoers were gathered around trying to make him as comfortable as they were able.

After the ambulance crew attended to him, the patient was secured to a stretcher across the bow of the Sealegs, driven back along the beach and then transported by sea back to Long Bay, where the Sealegs once more drove out of the water. The patient was then transferred into the waiting ambulance. All of this was carried out without anyone getting as much as a wet foot.

This is exactly the type of scenario for which the Sealegs rescue vessel was intended. The vessel was lowered on its wheels to facilitate picking up the ambulance crew and equipment and also to load the stretcher and patient on board.