A MAN IN his 70s has been airlifted by the Coast Guard from a north Dublin beach suffering from “severe hypothermia” after being in the water for some time.
The Coast Guard was alerted by a passing ship that a swimmer was in difficulty at the beach, near Rush, according to a spokesman for the service. Rescue 116, the Dublin-based Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to the scene.
The man had reportedly made it ashore himself before being assessed by paramedics, who deemed hospital care was necessary.
The helicopter subsequently made a landing at a hastily prepared landing site at O’Raghallaigh’s GAA ground in Drogheda.
After a 25-minute wait for an ambulance at the GAA ground, the Coast Guard elected to take no further chances and transported the man to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in a Coast Guard jeep.
Subsequently Rescue 116 was stood down. It is the helicopter crew’s first rescue of the year.
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