Porthcawl RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew were paged last Saturday morning to launch to a fisherman suffering with chest pains on a local fishing boat. A doctor also fishing in a nearby boat heard the distress call and offered his assistance.
Porthcawl lifeboat made good speed to Sker Point, where a call had been put out to Swansea Coastguard by a local fishing boat requiring assistance to a fisherman experiencing chest pains. The tide was out at this time and the fishing boat was unable to bring his passenger back to Porthcawl harbour. I
n the vicinity of Sker Point were other fishing boats, one of which was from Swansea carrying a doctor who works at the University of Wales Hospital, who fortunately had heard the call. The fishing boat quickly transferred the doctor to the casualty’s vessel where he was able to assess his condition.
The lifeboat arrived a short time later and, at the request of the doctor, oxygen, aspirin and further medication were administered. At that point it was decided that the fisherman needed to be treated in hospital as soon as possible and Rescue Helicopter 169 was tasked.
The casualty and doctor were transferred to Porthcawl lifeboat to enable the helicopter to winch safely. The fisherman was then evacuated to Morriston Hospital for the necessary treatment.
Joseph Missen, Helm at Porthcawl lifeboat station, said: ‘This was a shout which involved many people from different backgrounds working together to assist a man who needed our help. Everything came together so neatly due to the fact that the doctor and helicopter were so close. All of these things were a contributing factor to getting this fisherman to hospital so quickly.’
