THE FETHARD RNLI was involved yesterday evening in an operation that saw six people rescued, after two young girls had drifted off to sea on an airbed.

Members of the local community rallied to attend the incident off Duncannon Beach in Wexford, and the RNLI was aided by the Dunmore East Coast Guard in attending the incident after the alarm was raised just after 8.30pm.

During the efforts to save the girls, twins aged 4, a number of other men got into difficulty swimming before they were all brought to safety.

When the girls started to drift out to sea, four men – one of whom was the girls’ father – entered the sea and swam towards the girls.

The RNLI deputy launching authority Hugh Burke also launched his boat near to Duncannon and set off with another local vessel.

He told RTÉ’s Drivetime that it “happened so quickly.. they were gone 50/60 metres in a few seconds”.

Upon arrival, Burke saw that a windsurfer had made his way to the girls. One of the girls was on the airbed, and one of the four men who had gone to help was holding onto the windsurfer’s board.

Burke took the girl and the swimmer aboard, and brought them safely back to shore where he was alerted that the father of the two girls was in need of serious medical attention on the beach.

He had earlier reached the airbed and rescued one of the girls. While swimming back to shore, he too got into difficulty and he and his daughter were dragged into the water.

One of the men who had swam along took the girl to shore. He then went back to help the father, but then he too got into difficulty as exhaustion set in, the RNLI said.

At the same time, a strong local swimmer who’d seen events unfold from his home got involved and went to the man’s aid. He managed to bring him ashore before going to help the father.

A kayaker then went to the aid of another man who’d gone to help but got into difficulty and became separated from the others. The kayaker then managed to bring the man ashore.

When the coast guard and RNLI arrived ashore, emergency care was immediately given to those who’d been in difficulty in the water.

The father was treated for hypothermia, while one of the girls was treated having inhaled a considerable amount of water.

Burke said that one of the girls was “very frightened and in shock”, and the other little girl was throwing up sea water and was very cold.

Both responded well to treatment and were treated by volunteers on the scene before an ambulance arrived.

In a statement, Burke said: “Time was of the essence this evening and from the raising of the alarm, to the local efforts to get to the scene to help, right through to the administration of casualty care, fortunately it resulted in a good outcome for all.

We would like to remind everyone of the importance of respecting the water. We would ask the public to remember that inflatables such as lilos are designed for pools and not the open sea where they can be easily swept out by offshore winds and lead you into difficulty.

He added that people should always wear a lifejacket and carry means for communication with them.