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Published:
September
13,
2009
Burnham's
MP swaps city suit for wet suit for rescue exercise
 Burnham-On-Sea's
MP experienced at first hand the work of the town's marine rescue
services on Sunday (September 13th) when he was 'rescued' during
a joint training exercise.
David
Heathcoat-Amory had a flight in a rescue hovercraft and a trip
on a lifeboat when he became a 'casualty' for a day and was retrieved
by the crews of BARB and the RNLI.
The
MP was taken out into Bridgwater Bay onboard the yacht Walrus,
skippered by Burnham Sailing Club's Racing Master Rod Southwell.
He
was then transferred onto Burnham-On-Sea RNLI's Atlantic Class
lifeboat, The Staines Whitfield, and taken to Stert Island.
Once
there, BARB's Spirit of Lelaina hovercraft was on hand to take
the MP onboard and fly him back to the safety of Burnham beach.
 Mr
Heathcoat-Amory also watched an RAF rescue helicopter take part
in the exercise, winching several lifeboat crewmembers onboard.
RNLI
helmsman Glen Cutter told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "This was a
fantastic chance to show David how the highly-skilled crews of
both RNLI and BARB can work together."
"It
also gave Burnham RNLI helmsmen a chance to work with RAF chivenor
169 on the delicate task of transferring casualties between boat
and helicopter. An added value was the opportunity for the RAF
crew to investigate close-up the difficulty of transferring casualties
from a fully rigged yacht to the helicopter."
 BARB's
Hovercraft Operations Manager Steve Perks added: "The exercise
was a great opportunity for the crewmembers of BARB and the RNLI
to work on a joint exercise and David was very interested in the
work we all do. He was the perfect 'casualty'."
Mr
Heathcoat-Amory told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "We are very fortunate
to have such excellent rescue crews to call on in Burnham."
"I've
seen at first hand today the dedication of the volunteers and
the quality of the service they provide. It's been an amazing
day."
Click
here for a video interview with Mr Heathcoat-Amory during this
event
RELATED
LINKS:
Burnham-On-Sea Hovercraft Web site
Lifeboats
website for Burnham-On-Sea
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