Crew

Crew Information

Currently the operational team consists of 36 individuals who are all volunteers. Each member, with the exception of the Station Treasurer, has to be able to respond to a ‘shout’ – a callout, within minutes and it is therefore essential that they all live in Porthcawl. They are ‘paged’ mainly by Swansea Coastguard who normally request a launch or in more urgent incidents will send an ‘immediate launch’ message via the paging system. In recent years our station has averaged 50 ‘shouts’ per year, there is no pattern to these, there could be one a month or three in a day.

Personnel generally fall into one of three roles within the Lifeboat Station, namely Launch Management, Crew and Shore Helpers and each of these can be broken down further which will be explained in more detail below.

Launch Management

Heading the whole operational side of the station is the Lifeboat Operations Manager, LOM. This position is currently held by Philip Missen MBE. He is responsible for the management of all operational volunteers including the safety and training standards, maintenance of the station and all the equipment including the lifeboat and launching tractor. He is also the person that communicates with RNLI Divisional Inspectors and RNLI Headquarters in Poole. The role most people associate the LOM with is that of the head ‘launch authority’ following a request from coastguards for the lifeboat to launch to an incident.

Assisting the LOM, especially in his absence, and following a request to launch by coastguards, there are 4 Deputy Launch Authority (DLA) personnel at Porthcawl. As with the case of the LOM it is their responsibility to authorise a launch based on the information passed via the coastguards and in particular taking into account local wind force, sea conditions and the safety of lifeboat and crew.

The RNLI policy for inshore lifeboats is that crew retire at age 45 and in Porthcawl the LOM and each of the DLAs are all retired crew members and therefore have experience of the sea and tidal conditions in the area.

There are also additional ‘management roles’ within the operational side and these are, Station Treasurer (ST), Lifeboat Press Officer (LPO), Sea Safety Officer (SSO), and Lifeboat Training Coordinator (LTC). In Porthcawl the LPO is also a DLA; the SSO is also a member of the Shore Helpers group and the LTC is a crew member too.

Crew

The crew numbers stand around 25, both male and more recently female volunteers, ranging in age from 16 to 44. This group is made up of helmsman, crew and probationary crew. The lifeboat launches with 4 crew members on board, however we require far more than this on the crew as we have to be able to launch anytime during 24 hours, 365 days a year. For this reason we rely on crew from a mix of occupations, particularly if they are shift workers or work locally within two miles of the station. When the lifeboat is launched the crew will consist of one helmsman, and three crew members, one of which could be a probationer. Normally the rescue crew on a ‘shout’ will consist of the first 4 crew members to arrive at the station, as long as they fulfil the minimum experience criteria above. If, as may be the case, during a callout, the first four could all be qualified helmsmen, normally the first to arrive will then take responsibility to be the helm and the other three will carry out other crew duties on board which will be radio operator, lookout etc.

Once at sea the helmsman is responsible for the lifeboat, crew and casualty safety, he or she will liaise with coastguards, search and rescue helicopters, other lifeboats or craft via the lifeboat radio operator. There is no communication between the lifeboat and the station management except in rare cases via coastguards.

Shore Helpers

Currently there are six volunteers in this role whose aim is to ensure the speedy and safe launch of the lifeboat whether that is for a ‘shout’ or normal exercise launches. In this category the volunteers are made up from retired crew or from people who want to be involved with lifeboats but have no interest in going to sea. One of the jobs that qualified shore helpers carry out is that of Tractor Driver, essential for the launch of the lifeboat at whatever state of tide.

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At most inshore lifeboat stations and Porthcawl is no exception, the crew are flexible in their duties and many will help with launching and or recovering the lifeboat, cleaning, refuelling and preparing it ‘ready for service’. They will also be trained and prepared to assist in landing casualties and if required administer first aid and life saving skills until profession help arrives.

The volunteer personnel at Porthcawl are ordinary residents of our town; they include single people, married and family people who are students, employed, self employed and retired. They are dedicated to the RNLI and Porthcawl’s lifeboat station. This involves training and taking part in exercise launches, both on a Wednesday evening and Sunday morning, as well as attending courses at the RNLI Training College in Poole. Some also give safety talks to schools and community organisations.

I would remind readers that in addition to all training and ‘off station work’ each of the Operational team is on standby 24 hours a day.

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Abbreviations:

DLADeputy Launch Authority

LOMLifeboat Operations Manager

LPOLifeboat Press Officer

LTCLifeboat Training Coordinator

SSOSea Safety Officer

STStation Treasurer