The importance of local knowledge in the Coastguard has been demonstrated by the rescue of a young student cut off by the tide near St Andrews.
The woman was stranded on a sand bar at around 1pm on Monday at a notorious part of the West Sands near the mouth of the Eden Estuary where the tide comes in at great speed. Rescuers faced a race against time to reach her as the rising water put her life at risk.
Luckily, she was brought back to shore cold but uninjured and required no medical treatment.
The incident occurred as the UK Government moves towards axing 10 of the UK’s 18 Coastguard stations including Fife Ness, which co-ordinated the emergency response. This will leave the whole of Scotland covered by the Aberdeen station and a part-time station at either Stornoway or Shetland.
A Coastguard spokesman told The Courier that local knowledge of the well-known danger spot meant the St Andrews Coastguard team and Broughty Ferry lifeboat were able to locate the distressed student on time. The spokesman said she may have drowned had there been a delay in pinpointing where she was.
“The local knowledge of the people in the operations room meant they acted immediately,” he said. “They knew there was no time to waste.
“There’s usually about 20 to 30 minutes for the person on the sands. That’s about the same time as the Broughty Ferry lifeboat takes to get there.
“When staff received the call without any hesitation they requested the launch of the Broughty Ferry all-weather and inshore lifeboats. If we had had to spend quarter of an hour looking for her, it might have been too late.”
A Royal Navy helicopter from Prestwick was also scrambled but was turned back before it arrived.
North-East Fife MSP Iain Smith said, “This is a classic example of the importance of the local Coastguard service and by losing it and the local knowledge of those who work there, lives could be put at risk.”
Arriving off the coast just moments after the successful rescue was Broughty Ferry lifeboat coxswain Murray Brown.
“We have had quite a few rescues out there,” he said. “Some believe they can walk or even wade across when the tide is low leading them into trouble.”