SIX MISSIONS CAP BUSY WEEKEND FOR REGION’S RESCUERS
July 13, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RACQ CQ Rescue has flown six missions this weekend including locating a missing fishing boat in the Whitsundays early this morning.
The six-metre centre console boat was reported missing last night when the vessel with two men and a woman on board didn’t return home from a fishing trip near Whitsunday Island.
Queensland Police requested the Mackay-based rescue helicopter conduct a search of the area for the vessel at first light this morning.
About 6am the rescue helicopter, with a doctor, Critical Care Paramedic and rescue crewman on board, set off to conduct a low-level search over the water near Whitsunday Island, about 116km north of Mackay. Within an hour, the stranded vessel and three people on board were spotted from the air. The boat was anchored about 300 metres offshore from Whitehaven Beach.
The helicopter crew were unable to make radio contact with the vessel, but the boaties signalled all onboard were safe, but they were experiencing serious engine trouble. Volunteer Marine Rescue was contacted and assisted the vessel return to shore later that morning and the helicopter returned to base by 7.15am.
On Sunday, RACQ CQ Rescue was put on standby at Hamilton Island when an EPIRB was activated north-east of Bowen at Wallaby Reef. Two adults and two children were on a vessel which had also broken down and was stranded offshore. They were later assisted by fellow boaties in the vicinity and Volunteer Marine Rescue Whitsundays.
RACQ CQ Rescue crewman Ben McCauley said it these searches were a timely reminder about the importance of EPIRBs now that social restrictions had been relaxed and more boaties were hitting the open water.
“EPIRBs really do save lives. Having an EPIRB with you when you hit the water also enables rescuers to save valuable time and money and pinpoint your actual location when you run into difficulty,” he said.
“It very important to have the right safety equipment on board, that you know how and when to use it, otherwise for us as rescuers, it’s like trying to find a need in a hay stack.”
On Saturday, an 89-year-old woman was airlifted by RACQ CQ Rescue after she suffered serious fractures and chest injuries when she has charged by a bull in cattle yards on a remote family property at Mt Coolon, 200km north of Clermont.
In the five-hour mission, RACQ CQ Rescue flew 200km west of Mackay to land on the property near the yards about 1pm. The injured woman was flown to Mackay Base Hospital in a stable condition just after 3pm.
Since Friday, RACQ CQ Rescue has also been tasked by Queensland Health to fly to Proserpine and Bowen twice for hospital transfers to Mackay.
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Please credit any released photos and video footage to RACQ CQ Rescue.
Please note: Full title of rescue service is RACQ CQ Rescue.
For further information please contact:
Naomi Noy
RACQ CQ Rescue
Ph: 0417 578 182