Trainee Cowes RNLI lifeboat crewmember Andrea Vaughan.
A TRAINEE crew member on an Isle of Wight lifeboat has had a busy Cowes Week, dealing with two emergencies.
Yesterday (Thursday), Andrea Vaughan, of Cowes RNLI, transferred from the lifeboat to a racing yacht to give first aid to a 55-year-old man who had suffered a head injury.
And on Tuesday, she was on board the lifeboat when it came to the aid of a 22 ft Redwing, stranded in the main shipping lane.
Thursday’s drama took place when Cowes lifeboat was directed to a 40 ft Sunsail yacht, after a crewman suffered a head injury when he was hit by a spinnaker pole.
Andrea went on board and put her first aid expertise to work by applying a bandage to the crewman’s head.
The injured man was transferred to the lifeboat, accompanied by Andrea, and taken back to Cowes, where the 55-year-old casualty was treated by paramedics.
On Tuesday Andrea was part of the crew that assisted a 22 ft Redwing, that suffered a broken forestay.
The boat was towed to Cowes.
Andrea, a mother of three, said: "Although I have been a trainee since last December, these are the first occasions I have been on the boat when it was involved in shouts."