Emergency services called to lake incident

RNLI lifeboat volunteers and National Ambulance Service paramedics from two counties were mobilised to assist a young person with a medical emergency on Lough Derg yesterday.  

Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted the operation after receiving a report of a young person in a semi-conscious state on a floating pontoon off Dromineer on the eastern shore of the lake.

National Ambulance Service (NAS) resources were dispatched from counties Tippeary and Clare while the Dromineer-based RNLI lifeboat launched at 3.43pm.

With the incident only a short distance from their base, the lifeboat crew reached the casualty in under two minutes.

On arrival, the volunteer crew found that two NAS paramedics had been transferred to the pontoon form the shore and were treating the patient. The casualty’s level on consciousness had improved and he was speaking.

The young boy, who is believed to have suffered a medical episode, was transferred by lifeboat to the shore where RNLI Lifeboat Medical Advisor Dr. Peter Hooker, Lifeboat Training Co-ordinator Claire Toohey and another NAS crew were standing by.

Dr Hooker advised water users to ‘ensure you keep sufficiently hydrated and wearing sun block when out enjoying the water’.