Woman rescued from rocks at Thurso beach
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A WARNING has been issued about the dangers of high tides after a successful multi-agency operation to rescue a woman who had become stranded on rocks at Thurso.
Thurso RNLI lifeboat The Taylors was launched at 4.43pm on Friday in response to a report of a female trapped near the town’s beach.
The lifeboat arrived off the beach a few minutes later and, as there was no other emergency service on the scene, the inflatable Y boat was launched with two crew members trained in casualty care.
The Y boat was taken as close as it could get to the casualty and then the crew members went ashore on foot.
Lifeboat operations manager Scott Youngson, who happened to be in the area, comforted the casualty until the lifeboat crew members arrived.
The two RNLI crew members attended to the woman and administered pain relief until the Scottish Ambulance Service arrived. As she was firmly stuck between rocks it was decided to call the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which used used specialist equipment to release the casualty at 6.10pm.
The woman, who had been trapped for over two hours, was then transported to a waiting ambulance. The Taylors returned to Scrabster around 6.30pm.
Thurso RNLI coxswain Dougie Munro said: “It was good that the crew was able to assist in the rescue of the casualty and thankfully everything turned out fine. The tide was coming in and, as there are particularly high tides just now, the area where the casualty was trapped would have been under water in a few hours.”
Scrabster and Melvich coastguard personnel were also called out and helped in the rescue.
The Taylors was launched again on Monday at 5.55pm in response to a report from the coastguard service that a fishing boat had suffered engine failure.
The Wick-registered creel boat Stella Polaris had lost power seven-and-a-half miles west of Holborn Head.
The Taylors arrived on the scene at 6.25pm and secured a tow rope.
Both vessels arrived back in Scrabster at 7.05pm.
The Taylors then proceeded to take part in a prearranged training exercise in Thurso Bay.
