Kippford RNLI welcomes generous equipment donation

The volunteer crew at Kippford RNLI were grateful to receive a very generous donation from Guildford based business DNASTREAM. Managing Director Andy Milner of DNASTREAM purchased a life size rescue dummy which will be used for training exercises aboard the lifeboat.

As the charity that saves lives at sea one of the most important aspects of the RNLI’s activities is the ability to come to the aid of casualties who have ended up in the water. Around 140 people die by accident in UK and Irish coastal waters each year. Half of those people never intended to enter the water so our crew knows that time is critical in these situations.

Training takes place all year round and there are a variety of exercises which are used to simulate a person in the water. The addition of this life size dummy will allow those training sessions to become much more realistic giving all of our volunteers the opportunity to experience working with an adult size model.

This generous donation was made by DNASTREAM, an IT Consultancy based in Guildford. One of Kippford’s lifeboat crew is employed by DNASTREAM and when they wanted to be involved in supporting the station the idea of purchasing the rescue dummy came up. Andy Milner, Managing Director of DNASTREAM said: ‘we’re all really proud of John and the volunteering he does with the RNLI. The business was keen to be able to do a bit more to support John and the station as a whole and I’m delighted that we could assist with something so practical. It was lovely to be able to visit Kippford in person to hand over the dummy.’

These man overboard mannekins are manufactured in the UK by Ruth Lee Ltd and are widely used around the world. The mannekin is 1.8m tall and weighs 40kg, it is designed to float allowing crews to practice approaching and assisting an unconscious casualty.

Lifeboat Operations Manager, Gareth Jones said: ‘we’re very grateful to Andy and the team at DNASTREAM for this donation. We know that by providing our crew with the best possible training it can save lives when the skills are needed for real.’

All of the volunteers are looking forward to getting a chance to put the mannekin to good use in the coming weeks and months.

RNLI Media Contacts

For further information, please contact:

Laura Wilson, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for Kippford RNLI, 07756 125917, [email protected]

Natasha Bennett, RNLI Regional Media Officer(Scotland), 07826 900639, [email protected]

Martin Macnamara, Regional Media Manager (Scotland), 07920 365929 or [email protected]

RNLI Press Office 01202 336789 or [email protected]

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.

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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.