Kingston First Aid for Riverbank Emergency

A passing patrol by the Kingston Unit vessel ‘Blue Light’ was in the right place at the right time to assist with a riverbank medical emergency.
Blue Light’s skipper James Deller saw a body lying motionless on the bank near Teddington Lock, followed by some frantic waves from people when they saw the vessel.

The body was a young teenage female who had collapsed.
Blue Light went alongside and while the rest of the crew moored up James rushed to the casualty and was soon giving first aid.
The teenager’s condition was not critical, but she was semi-conscious, distressed, vomiting and in need of help.

Local Park patrol staff were also there, and with the ambulance called, one phoned the girl’s mother.
James tended to her until a bicycle-mounted paramedic came to take over, followed by an ambulance.
The Blue Light team helped lift her over a fence onto a stretcher, and soon she was on her way to hospital.

James who is the Deputy Head of Kingston Unit said: “We were very much at the right place at the right time.
Unit training sessions this year have focused on First Aid and this was a great demonstration why those skills are essential for MVS crews.”

Picture: James Deller aboard Blue Light