Today we’re in West Sussex with the Littlehampton Coastguard Rescue Team. Littlehampton officers cover an area of around 20 miles between Bognor Regis and Worthing. The Littlehampton team is stationed at the mouth of the River Arun on Coastguard Beach, with 12 Coastguard Rescue Officers.
Trained in Water Rescue, the team is fully- equipped to manage this very popular stretch of coastline, which can include support taskings to Brighton, The Witterings and Pagham.
We spent some time with Coastguard Rescue Officers Darren, James and Doug, to hear more about their brilliant work.
Why did you join HM Coastguard?
Many of us enjoy being part of local communities and either have a connection to the coastline or the emergency services. Some of us are into sports, like Doug and James, and other have grown up beside the sea, like Darren.
What is the most unusual incident you've attended?
Our team isn’t short of unusual incidents! These include pushing a plane up a beach near Shoreham when it ditched in the sea after losing power, being called out to a 2,000lb WW2 mine which was detonated by the Royal Navy at sea, and a strange object that washed up ashore - later identified as a coconut wrapped in a green cloth!
What is the most unusual place you’ve been when your pager has gone off?
Mealtimes and family events aren’t that unusual, but perhaps Christmas Day is – which has happened a few times. For Doug and Darren, pagers have gone off while they’ve been travelling, usually while boarding or disembarking planes.
Darren received the pager call for unexploded ordnance while he was in Majorca! Duty-bound as ever, he boarded a flight home, stayed overnight in Birmingham, drove home, and then donned his uniform to attend. Unfortunately, he arrived moments after the Royal Navy detonated the mine, and ended up washing down and cleaning all our equipment instead!
What is the most challenging part of your role?
We’ve all seen the strains that can be put upon our team when responding to complex incidents where people need further support. At times, it can be difficult to deal with, especially when you need to go back to ‘normal life’ and routine straight after.
Which local beach is your favourite and why?
This is where we all differ! Darren’s favourite beach is Pagham, where he has memories of fun times with friends and family, as well as crabbing between rock armour. For Doug, its Littlehampton, a view he’s been familiar with for more than 40 years.
James lives in Middleton-on-Sea so it’s an easy one for him, but being from the West Country, Cornwall has his heart (and his stomach, with Pasty in hand).
What do you enjoy most about being a member of the team?
It’s exactly that, being a member of and working as part of a team – it’s a family where we stop everything at the drop of a hat and work seamlessly to help others in need. It’s a unique bond which is a privilege to experience.
We’ve had brilliant outcomes over the years, and it’s been incredibly rewarding. There’s a strong sense of humour too; we’ve had some great laughs together, from friendly banter to humorous moments. We all know and understand each other as a team.
What new skills have you learned as a CRO?
So many! From water rescue and 4x4 driving skills, through to the amazing casualty care skills that we’ve recently been upgraded in. Darren says that the most interesting skill he’s learned so far is around how to search for lost and missing people.
As a regular water user, James likes being better equipped to enjoy the sea by keeping a cool head under pressure and knowing what to do when things go wrong. Being open minded and not immediately rushing into situations increases success and efficiency, which has proved very useful in his day job too!
When you’re not working or volunteering as a CRO, what do you enjoy doing?
It’s fair to say that all of us enjoy being outdoors, whether its for sports or walks down to the beach and woodlands nearby. Darren enjoys going out on his paddle board, then reading a book on the stones nearby – he’s also into baking and then bringing his creations to training sessions and events, sometimes even after incidents!
James is an amateur radio operator, so his VHF knowledge has also been useful in our team! He’s got two rescue dogs, who he and the family enjoy spending time with. Doug’s a keen cricket and rugby fan, even after hanging his boots up about 15 years ago. He’s also partial to a Cornish ale and enjoys eating out with his family.
What do you do for a living?
Our professional lives are all quite varied! We work in roles including: a marketing manager in the renewables industry, an international wine merchants’ sales team, technical design for a solar energy company, and health and safety consultancy for the leisure industry.
