By Phil Coleman

Last updated at 11:45, Monday, 10 September 2012

A coastguard official has spoken out in defence of police who played a key role in the rescue of a man who leapt into Maryport Harbour.

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An onlooker criticised police officers at the scene for not going into the water last Sunday to rescue the man from a mudbank 30ft below the harbour wall.

But Denis McCallig, who is the station officer at Maryport Coastguard, says the emergency response to the incident had been “textbook”.

He described how he arrived at the scene to find that the man was stranded in 8 to 10 inches of water, secured by a rope which police officers had thrown down to him. The tide was out at the time.

“I was the first person on the scene after the police, and could see that the man was moving, and therefore didn’t have any spinal injury,” said Mr McCallig.

“He was in no immediate danger and he’d grabbed hold of the rope thrown to him by the police officer.

“We knew that two fire engines from Maryport, two from Workington, a specialist water rescue team, and medical back-up, were on their way. We could hear the sirens and they’d only be a few minutes.

“So there was absolutely no need for a police officer to traipse through the river.

“The police response was fantastic; it was textbook, and it would have made no sense to send the officers there into a hostile environment without a good reason.

“They hit the button, and everybody came. It made sense to wait a few minutes for Cumbria Fire & Rescue to come with their ladder because that was the best way to get this man out quickly.

“The police used their heads perfectly. Within five minutes, all the other emergency crews were arriving and there were upwards of 50 people from various teams there.”

Maryport Inshore Rescue was also called to assist during the incident, which happened at around 6.30pm on Sunday.

The man is thought to have jumped into the water when police arrived.

Police also defended their response to the incident. A spokeswoman said: “A rescue operation was immediately launched.

“The man was not in immediate danger and an assessment was made to wait for specialist services to arrive.

“As a further safety measure a rope was attached to the man and the situation was monitored until specialist rescue services arrived to facilitate a safe rescue.

“The only access to the man was via a fire service ladder and a winch, which was quickly deployed and the man was rescued, unharmed at 7.05pm.

“Police officers provided reassurance to the man throughout and had the man’s condition deteriorated to a stage where immediate intervention was required, then other options would have been considered.

“The rescue by the specialist services meant that no other person’s life was put at risk.”

After being helped up the ladder in a safety harness by a firefighter, the man was taken to Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital for checkup.

Last year, the Maryport Coastguard team became the first in the country to be trained in specialist mud rescue techniques.

PColeman@cngroup.co.uk

First published at 11:31, Monday, 10 September 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk