| Poole was the busiest lifeboat station in the south
west in 2008 where the volunteer crews launched 156 times, rescuing
213 people.
The RNLI’s annual lifeboat statistics for 2008 were released
on Friday 30 January, to coincide with the RNLI’s biggest
fundraising day of the year – SOS day. They showed the RNLI’s
35 lifeboat stations in the south west launched 1,567 times during
2008, rescuing 1,671 people (a 14% increase on 2007) and the volunteer
crews spent more than 2,150 hours at sea on emergency call outs
alone.On average the volunteer lifeboat crews and the RNLI lifeguards
in the south west helped 31 people a day in 2008.
After Poole lifeboat station, Exmouth in Devon was second busiest
with 125 launches, followed by Falmouth in Cornwall where the lifeboats
put to sea for 104 emergencies.RNLI lifeguards, who were patrolling
89 beaches in the south west including those at Poole and Bournemouth,
dealt with 8,423 incidents on the beach, assisted 9,801 people and
saved 39 lives, illustrating the need to raise funds is as vital
as ever to ensure the volunteer crew and lifeguards have the training
and equipment they need to continue their lifesaving work. The beaches
in and around Bournemouth dealt with 1,027 incidents.
|
