Woman Rescued by RNLI Crew after Falling Overboard in Firth of Forth
A woman has been rescued after falling overboard from a small sailing boat.
RNLI Kinghorn Lifeboat crew found the woman clinging to the side of the vessel when they arrived at the scene south of Inchkeith Island in the Firth of Forth at around 10.30am today.
She had been on the boat with a man and a nine-year-old girl. One of the lifeboat crew jumped into the water to pull the woman to safety.
It is thought she had been in the water for up to half an hour and she was suffering from the early stages of hypothermia.
The lifeboat took the woman and the girl to shore, escorted by a Police Scotland boat which was working in the area, and both were taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution.
Lifeboat Helmsman Scott McIlravie said: "Communications between us and the casualty were difficult, although they thankfully had a VHF radio on board so we were able to use our direction finding equipment to quickly locate the boat which was around half a mile south of the island.
"We quickly assessed the situation on arrival and found a female in the water clinging to the back of the dinghy. One of our team jumped into the water to get hold of her, and she was then brought to safety on the lifeboat.
"The second crew member on the boat was a young girl and she was also taken onto the lifeboat to be taken back to Kinghorn where an ambulance was waiting to assess both casualties.
"Both casualties were cold and distressed, with the woman who had been in the water suffering from the early stages of hypothermia.''
He added: "It was fortunate that this vessel had a VHF radio on board today. There was very little chance that the woman would have got back onboard the dinghy today without third party assistance.
"Since the vessel was able to call for assistance immediately, and we were then able to find the boat quickly, this lady fortunately had a very lucky escape.''
All three people on board the sailing boat were wearing life jackets.