Coastguard team called to Knab rescue
Stuart Prestidge
What began as a missing person call escalated into a technical rescue last night as a person got into trouble on the cliffs of the Knab, Lerwick.
The call came in at around 6.30pm, 29th July, with coastguard teams from Lerwick, Sumburgh and Walls responding. They were joined at the Knab by the Lerwick lifeboat crew who had already assembled for an evening training exercise.
The crew were asked to locate an adult female who needed assistance on the cliffs and, after quickly locating the casualty, the officer in charge deemed the situation critical due to her precarious position near a high point of the cliffs.
Crew were able to guide other emergency services to her location, while the lifeboat deployed the inflatable ‘Y-boat’ on the water as a precaution.
The casualty was recovered from the clifftop by coastguard rescue teams using specialist rope rescue equipment, and transferred into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service at around 8pm.
Darren Harcus, Coxswain said: “Our volunteer crew responded quickly to the call to launch and locate the casualty, and support other emergency services colleagues.
“We’re pleased to see that there was a good outcome to this incident with the casualty safely recovered for medical treatment.”
Sea conditions were slight, with light northerly winds and some low cloud.
