The Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, operated by Equinor, makes a donation of £100,000 per annum to the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, and a grant from the Fund enabled the Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat Station in North Norfolk to take delivery of a new Argocat all-terrain amphibious rescue vehicle in late 2022.
“What a game changer this has proven to be”, says Chris Ball, Vice Chairman of the Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat. “As a lifeboat service we had always recognised the difficulty of transporting casualties from the beach to the lifeboat station or an ambulance in a safe manner. This can often be over a mile in challenging conditions, so our volunteer crews, and those who they rescue, have benefitted greatly since the Argocat came into service.”
Since 2017 the use of the Inshore Lifeboat, towed by a quad-bike, had been used as the method of casualty transportation, but it was recognised that this was not an ideal solution.
When the quad-bike came to the end of its useful life, the concept of using an Argocat was researched and investigated by the Sea Palling Lifeboat team.
s appeal was that as a multi-wheeled vehicle it could work on the sand and in the surf, thus able to tow the inshore lifeboat during launch and recovery. Importantly, it would also be able to transport crew and equipment and, in the Responder version, could accommodate a full-sized stretcher with the facility for a lifeboat crew member to continue casualty first aid on the move.
The Argocat is an amphibious vehicle, meaning the hull is watertight and all the mechanical running gear is inside and fully protected from the corrosive effective of salt water.
Further modifications to Sea Palling’s Argocat included roof top stretcher storage, additional lighting, a comprehensive first aid kit and VHF radio. It can also carry additional job dependent equipment, such as defibrillators and oxygen.
“We have developed a number of procedures for the safe deployment of the Argocat, and its use and operation are now part of our weekly training activities,” said Chris Ball.
He continued:
“The Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat is a self-funded, registered charity and only though the generous support of the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, and other key contributors, were we able to make the investment in an Argocat.”
By the end of 2023, the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, which is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation (www.norfolkfoundation.co), had awarded grants of over £1.2m since its establishment in 2010.
