Saturday 09:37
Two anglers were rescued from rocks off Black Head tonight after they became disorientated and called 999.
The two men made the emergency call from their mobile at just after 11.30 pm last night, reporting that they had become disorientated in the dark and needed assistance following a night time fishing trip. Belfast Coastguard received the call via the fire and rescue service who kept the callers on the line throughout the operation. Once the call had been received into the Belfast Coastguard operations room, the Port Muck Coastguard Rescue Team was requested to attend the scene and the Bangor RNLI Inshore Lifeboat was requested to launch. A Police helicopter with infrared capabilities, a fire and rescue unit and police and ambulance also rushed to the scene.
A short time later, the two men were located by the police helicopter using the police infrared capabilities. The inshore lifeboat was given the location and the two people were taken onboard the lifeboat. One man, who was suffering from shock, suffered an asthma attack whilst being assisted onto the lifeboat. The other man was unharmed. Both were taken for a check up at hospital by an awaiting ambulance.
Alan Pritchard, Belfast Coastguard Watch Manager says:
"We are pleased to have been able to assist these two people this evening. They did exactly the right thing by calling 999 and requesting assistance once they had become disorientated, rather than attempting to climb rocks in the dark. We did have some challenges with communications since one of them was deaf, however his companion was able to give us enough information over the phone to enable us to find them. "This was a good example of multi agency working with Coastguard, Police, Fire and Ambulance all working together to ensure a successful conclusion."
For further information please contact: Maritime and Coastguard Agency Public Relations Office: (023) 8032 9401
Press releases and further information about the Agency is available on the Web at http://www.mcga.gov.uk
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