Both Tenby RNLI lifeboats, along with coastguard and police, coordinated a swift rescue to evacuate a hypothermia-suffering individual from Swanlake Bay, culminating in a helicopter airlift.

The RNLI’s all-weather and inshore lifeboats were requested to launch at 9.10am on Saturday, March 7, to assist with the evacuation of a person who had been found on the coast path at Swanlake Bay, and was thought to be suffering from hypothermia.

The boats were quickly on the water and the volunteer crews made best speed towards Swanlake, 7.5 miles to the west of Tenby, arriving just 18 minutes later.

With the all-weather lifeboat standing off and providing safety cover, the inshore lifeboat helm manoeuvred the smaller boat in through the breaking surf and dropped two crew members ashore with medical equipment to join members of HM Coastguard Tenby, HM Coastguard St Govans and Dyfed-Powys Police officers who had also arrived.

They were soon joined by Paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust. Once the casualty was stabilised, it was decided that due to the size of the swell on the beach making a sea extraction too dangerous and the nature of the access to the beach meaning carrying the casualty up to the ambulance would be extremely difficult, a Coastguard rescue helicopter was requested.

Once on scene, the helicopter landed on the beach and the casualty was loaded, along with Paramedics and then dropped close to the ambulance on the headland above.

The lifeboats were then stood down to return to station, arriving back in Tenby at 11.25am

A spokesperson for Tenby RNLI said: “This is another great example of multiple agencies working together to assist a casualty.”

Both lifeboats were also launched on the evening before following a request from police to assist in the search for a missing person.