Burnham-On-Sea RNLI crews experienced a morning of unexpected drama on Sunday (June 7th) when a routine training launch turned into both a complex casualty‑care exercise and a real‑time rescue of a capsized dinghy sailor.
The session began as planned, with Helmsman Martin leading a scenario focused on potential problems that might occur when returning to the lifeboat station. As the launching tractor made its way up the jetty after recovering the lifeboat, a sudden shout of “STOP!” brought the exercise to an abrupt halt. The station’s rescue dummy had been positioned beneath the tractor’s wheels, simulating a trapped casualty.
Shore crew members immediately secured the tractor with wheel chocks while others deployed medical equipment to practise treating crush‑injury scenarios, including oxygen administration and casualty stabilisation. The dummy, fortunately, made what volunteers described as “a full recovery”.
But the morning’s challenges were far from over. As the Atlantic 85 lifeboat waited to be recovered, a Topper dinghy capsized just off the Town Slip. Its sailor had become separated from the boat and was struggling to right it. Burnham’s D‑class lifeboat crew, who had only just returned from the training exercise, immediately relaunched to assist.
The Atlantic 85 crew secured the drifting dinghy while the D‑class volunteers recovered the sailor. With the dinghy’s detached daggerboard retrieved and re‑fitted, the experienced sailor was able to continue safely, and both lifeboats returned to shore for wash‑down and preparation for their next call‑out.
Launch Authority Nigel said the morning had been both valuable and eventful, noting that “one casualty‑care exercise was completed, and a second was cancelled due to a tasking”. He added that the team had been monitoring the dinghy sailor from the beach and stepped in when it became clear he was unable to recover from the capsize unaided.
“We were glad to offer the assistance he needed,” he said, “and happy to find he was well‑equipped and experienced. It was simply the sort of mishap that can affect even the best‑prepared sailors.”
Pictured: Top, the rescue underway (photo Martin Horton) and, above, the training exercise (photo Mike Lang)
