Three call outs for Arranmore RNLI lifeboat on a busy Sunday
- Pat Nolan
- Aug 26
- 2 min read
Tuesday 26 August 2025
Arranmore RNLI volunteers were kept busy as they were tasked to three medical evacuations on Sunday.
The first call to launch the all weather lifeboat came at 9.25 am when a person became unwell on the island. The volunteer island emergency first responders ambulance crew delivered the patient to the lifeboat who was then transferred to a waiting ambulance in Burtonport.
The second call came within hours of the lifeboat returning to anchor when the crew pagers went off again at 11.45. Malin Head Coast Guard again asked that the lifeboat be launched, this time to escort an advanced paramedic from the National Ambulance Service to assess a patient with an injury on the island. On assessment the paramedic decided that the patient should be transferred to Letterkenny University Hospital for further treatment and tests. Again, the island ambulance facilitated the transfer to the lifeboat which then transferred the patient to an ambulance in Burtonport.
The third call out came at 3.07pm when the crew were again asked by the Coast Guard to transfer a patient from the island to a waiting ambulance in Burtonport. The patient was accompanied by the island Emergency First Responders on the lifeboat who monitored the casualty's condition and helped with transfer to the ambulance in Burtnport.
RNLI Resilience Coxswain/ Mechanic Declan Corrigan from Achill Island in Mayo, who is covering the Arranmore Station for a week said ‘I would like to thank the crew for all their efforts in answering the calls without hesitation on this really busy Sunday. Their commitment and dedication to saving lives is commendable, I would also like to thank and pay tribute to the island ambulance team who are also working as volunteers. The emergency services all work together to ensure the best possible outcome for those who need it and I’m privileged to work with them.'
Declan joined the Achill RNLI in 2013 as a crew member and continued further training on the mechanics and coxswain’s courses with the RNLI. Covering all stations in Ireland on the relief fleet this is Declan's first time to serve on the Severn class all weather lifeboat on Arranmore.
Crew on the various launches were:
Coxswain Declan Corrigan. Relief Mechanic John Mc Cafferty. Sharon O’Donnell. Brian Proctor. Kieran O’Donnell. Seán Gallagher. Pat Boyle. Julie Savoie. Joe Doherty.
