A man has been airlifted to hospital after he was rescued from the sea off West Clare this evening.
A multi-agency search and rescue operation was mounted at around 6.45pm when the Irish Coast Guard received reports of a person in the water in Kilkee Bay.
Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted the operation. It’s understood that a person was reported in the water in Kilkee Bay south of George’s Head.
The National Ambulance Service and Kilkee unit the Coast Guard were tasked while the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter was scrambled. The Aran Islands RNLI all-weather lifeboat (ALB) was also tasked while units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Kilkee station and Gardaí were also mobilised.
While the search operation was getting under way, watch officers in Valentia issued a Pan-pan radio call requesting any vessels in the Kilkee Bay area to keep a lookout and assist if possible.
An off-duty paramedic jumped into the water and reached the casualty, holding onto the man until additional help arrived.
Two local men made their way to the area on a jetski and recovered the man and the paramedic from the water. The jetski brought both men back to the slipway in Kilkee while the Coast Guard boat took the second jetskier on board and transported him back to Kilkee.
When it was confirmed the swimmer had been located, the Aran Island lifeboat was stood down however, Rescue 115 remained in the area to await confirmation of whether the casualty needed to be airlifted to hospital.
The helicopter later flew the man to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
