A teenager has been airlifted to hospital after getting into difficulty while swimming in Co Clare this afternoon.
The alarm was raised at around 3.15pm when the girl was taken from the water at Lahinch. Details of the incident are vague however it’s believed she was helped ashore by other swimmers as local lifeguards rushed to her aid.
Lifeguards administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while they waited for emergency services to arrive.
The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was alerted and requested to respond to the scene while the National Ambulance Service and Gardaà also dispatched resources to the incident.
The Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also tasked to the scene. Coast Guard personnel had to move several hundred people from the busy beach to secure a safe landing site for the helicopter.
After being treated at the scene initially, the girl was airlifted to University Hospital Galway for further treatment.
The operation was coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Co Kerry.
Meanwhile, at around the same time on Lough Derg in the East of the county this afternoon, the Killaloe unit of the Coast Guard was called into action.
The team was tasked at 3.40pm  to a broken down vessel with four persons on board North of Killaloe. A boat crew launched and arrived on scene north of Ballyvally within five minutes of departing base.
All on board were safe and well and wearing life jackets. A crew member was transferred to the casualty vessel and a side-by-side tow was set up.
The vessel was taken on tow back to Harbour Village Killaloe where a shore team assisted in the safe mooring of the vessel.
