Silverdale picnic warning issued for Easter bank holiday weekend after tragedy averted
A warning to anyone having a picnic in Silverdale has been issued ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend after a tragedy was averted.
A woman who suffered a dislocated knee had to be rescued from the incoming tide at Arnside on Saturday.
Bay Search & Rescue were completing a patrol around the coastline from Arnside to Silverdale and Grange when they were contacted by the Coastguard team at Holyhead to alert them of a woman who had slipped and fallen, resulting in the dislocation of her knee, near the sailing club in Arnside.
The team’s Sherp vehicle and its highly trained crew Paul and Josh attended the scene and worked with Arnside & South Lakes Coastguard Rescue Team to get the woman into the Sherp and back to safety at The Bob-In Cafe.
She then received treatment from working partners and another of Cumbria’s charities - the Beep Doctors, who administered pain relief and managed to get the dislocated knee back into position.
Issuing a warning to beachgoers taking advantage this bank holiday weekend, a BSAR spokesman said: “I’d like at this point just to point out to all the people who DIDN’T check to see when the tide was due and lay out their picnic blankets on the sands of Silverdale whilst the tide is pushing in silently around them that one day our amazing Coastguard teams and crews from BSAR will be treating a genuine emergency and won’t be available to save you from being engulfed by the tide.
"I find it tremendously frustrating when my crews return from patrol and tell me that they were met by a frosty reception after giving polite factual safety advise to people who continue to take their children across a flooding gully as the tide chases in and it makes me think that “as some of our followers remind us constantly“ we are not all blessed with common sense.”
They added: “My crews will always treat everyone with respect, but if you ignore their expert advise, and also ignore our live tide signs giving you for the very first time around our coastline an opportunity to do a last minute check of the incoming tide before walking out, then there’s not a lot more we can do.
"So let’s be safe on the sands people, you wouldn’t cross a busy road without checking to see if there were any cars coming so treat the bay the same – check the signs, make sure the tide’s not coming in and be safe.”
If you see someone you think is at risk or in trouble on the coastline dial 999 and ask for the coastguard and they will send a trained team to help you.