The latest figures from the RNLI have revealed that 2014 saw an increase in the number of people needing to be rescued and the number of times that crews were called out to an emergency.
Last year saw more than 10,000 people being rescued, an increase of 313 on the previous year. Crews also launched their vessels 122 more times than in 2013 in order to help water users and those who may have suffered a fall, been washed from the shore or cut off by the tide.
Will Stephens, the head of community safety for the RNLI, said even extremely competent water users could get caught out by the unpredictability of the sea, as could walkers and other users of the coastline.
He urged people to always respect the sea and other waterways, and to take notice of tide times and weather conditions. He also called on beach users to visit sites with lifeguard cover during the summer months. RNLI lifeguards helped almost 20,000 beach users last year alone.
London lifeboats stations proved to be the busiest in the network in 2014, with the River Thames’ Tower lifeboat station reporting the most incidents. The lifeboat was launched a total of 543 times over the course of the year and 104 people were rescued.
Announcing the fact that 10,038 people had to be rescued in 2014, George Rawlinson, the RNLI’s operations director, praised the crews and thanked supporters and fundraisers.
The RNLI’s lifeboats were launched 8,462 times in 2014 and 368 of the people rescued were classified as being ‘lives saved’, meaning that it is believed that without rescue these people would have perished.
Last year the RNLI launched its “Respect the Water” campaign and has a long-term goal of reducing the number of coastal drownings by half over the next nine years. Together with our very own “Know Your Tide Times” campaign, we hope to see more and more people becoming Tide Aware and enjoying our beautiful coastlines safely.
