Woman Rescued By Kinghorn RNLI

Lifeboat volunteers have rescued a woman who fell overboard into the Firth of Forth.

The RNLI Lifeboat crew found the woman clinging to the stern of a small sailing boat after getting into difficulty in water south of Inchkeith Island.

The lifeboat was launched at around 10.30AM on Saturday morning and arrived at the scene around seven minutes later.

The female crewmember from West Lothian is believed to have been suffering from the early stages of hypothermia.

It is understood there were three people on board, including a nine-year-old girl.

Helmsman Scott McIlravie continued, ‘Communications between us and the casualty were difficult, although they thankfully had a VHF radio on board so we were able to use our direction finding equipment to quickly locate the boat which was around half a mile south of the island.

‘We quickly assessed the situation on arrival and found a female in the water clinging to the back of the dinghy. One of our team jumped into the water to get hold of her, and she was then brought to safety on the lifeboat.

‘The second crewmember on the boat was a young girl and she was also taken onto the lifeboat to be taken back to Kinghorn where an ambulance was waiting to assess both casualties.

‘Both casualties were cold and distressed, with the woman who had been in the water suffering from the early stages of hypothermia.

‘The sailing dinghy then made its way back towards Portobello, escorted back, for safety, by a Police Scotland boat which was working in the area.

‘It was fortunate that this vessel had a VHF radio on board today. There was very little chance that the woman would have got back onboard the dinghy today without third party assistance. Since the vessel was able to call for assistance immediately, and we were then able to find the boat quickly, this lady fortunately had a very lucky escape.

‘We would always recommend that prior to making a trip to sea that you check the weather forecast, make sure you have the correct level of experience on board for the prevailing conditions, and that you have the correct type of properly fitting protective clothing.’