Scarborough RNLI has a volunteer position for a Water Safety Officer.
The exciting and rewarding role is described as being "ideal for someone who would enjoy sharing the RNLI's vital messages as part of the water safety team at Scarborough."
Key elements of the role include:
• Coordinating activity and interventions of the Water Safety and Lifesaving Plan
• Leading regular water safety meetings and being a member of and representing water safety on the Operations team at the lifeboat station
• Collating and reporting water safety activity.
Being part of the Water Safety team can make a real difference and help to save lives at sea. This was demonstrated just over a year ago when Michael Whiteley, a swimmer who got into trouble in the water said the RNLI's 'float to live' advice saved him.
On Monday 8 January 2024, the volunteer crew at Scarborough RNLI was paged at 8:05am and swiftly assembled to launch the charity’s inshore D class lifeboat John Wesley Hillard IV to reports of a person in the water in difficulty.
As the lifeboat crew arrived on scene, they found the Michael lying on his back with his ears submerged and extremely cold. They quickly brought him onboard the lifeboat and started casualty care as the lifeboat made its way back to the boat house.
Speaking after the Incident, Michael advised that 'he'd been swimming with a friend when he got into trouble and while his friend was able to get back to land to raise the alarm he could not.'
He said.
'I remember thinking how this could be a life-or-death moment,'
'You don't last very long in the sea, so I knew I was either going to have to make it out myself or the RNLI were going to have to come rescue me.
'I tried to get out and swim front crawl, but just wasn't making any progress, and that's when I got into the starfish position - also known as the float to live position - and just kept calm and waited for help.'
He also said, 'he kept thinking about his wife and their two dogs', while he waited.
Micheal had attended an open water swimming and dipping presentation delivered by the Water Safety team at Scarborough lifeboat station only months before the incident happened. The float to live advice was part of the advice from the presentation using the 'Ravi Story' as an example of how vital water safety advice is.
Meg Woodhouse, RNLI Water Safety Delivery Support North and East, said:
'The Water Safety Officer is a rewarding, and significant role. Part of this role involves delivering events just like the open water swimming and dipping presentation which Micheal had attended and it's quite possible this important advice was in his mind when the incident occurred.
'Our advice is to always swim with others, be aware of the tides and changing currents and have a means of calling for help.
'If you find yourself in difficulty in the water, float on your back, ears submerged and try to relax and breathe normally, gently moving your hands to stay afloat if you need to.'
For more information, or to apply please visit: https://volunteering.rnli.org/vacancy/water-safety-officer---scarborough-576475.html
Further advice about open water swimming is available at https://rnli.org/safety/choose-your-activity/open-water-swimming
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