THERE was success all round as 14 of Bude lifeboat station’s crew undertook and passed an intensive casualty care course.

The course was first encountered by the station in 2010 and the last refresher course was in 2013.

Sitting the course were crew from the initial training in 2010 and crew who have joined since 2013.

Grant Walkey, a former Bude RNLI lifeguard and retained firefighter, delivered the RNLI’s specially developed course.

It comprised eight, three-hour sessions and was based on what a crew member sees and therefore knows —otherwise known as a symptom-based approach approved by the British Paramedic Association and the Anaesthesia, Trauma and Critical Care group.

During the course the crew were required to demonstrate their skill and knowledge in deciding if someone was ‘big sick’ or ‘little sick’.

A casualty who is referred to as being ‘big sick’ has a life threatening illness and needs immediate evacuation. When someone is ‘little sick’ it means they are very poorly but urgent care is needed.

Treatment was then aided by a set of waterproof check-cards that use flow charts, rather than heavy text. They cover aspects of injury, illness and immersion and even triage for cases where casualties outnumber first aiders.

The course is 75% practical with crews being assessed on: their ability to carry out casualty assessment, use of a multitude of medical equipment and complete a multiple choice paper and demonstrate competence in practical scenarios, covering injuries, illnesses and immersion related.

Grant Walkey, RNLI casualty care trainer, said: “All the crew performed very well, and being an ex-Bude RNLI lifeguard myself, it was great to see how far they had come and I was very proud to be a part of training them.”

RNLI Bude Lifeboat operations manager, Chris Wilson explained that he was impressed by the exceptional volunteer commitment shown by the crew to complete this intensive course.

He said: “It is particularly reassuring with the busy summer season approaching that we are able to ensure we have a fully trained crew on board, ready to competently deal with any emergency or accident situations.”