Training

It is essential that the RNLI offers the best training it can, especially to those who volunteer to risk their lives to save others. Crew training takes place on a weekly basis with a either a day or night exercise. The training often involves working with a lifeboat from another station and may take the form of one crew practising rescuing the other crew. Towlines are thrown and the boats will take turns towing one another. The boats exercise exchanging personnel as though they were rescuing crews from stricken vessels and crewmen will even volunteer to jump into the sea to allow the others practice in rescuing people fallen overboard. A full exercise may last 90 minutes or more.

Lifeboat crew members may also from time-to-time be required to demonstrate their physical fitness by undertaking a series of simple, task related, fitness tests.

It costs £1,300 to train a new recruit to become an all weather crew member. On average, training costs the RNLI £1,000 for each crew member every year.

Crew members must also be prepared to give up a lot of their own time to take part in 'competency based training' courses. These include:

• stripping down an engine at sea
• tend to medical emergencies - often hours from other help
• work with helicopter pilots in all weathers
• navigate sophisticated boats through the worst the sea can throw at them

Crew members are also expected to attend the residential Lifeboat College (photo above) at Poole, Dorset for further training. And, to supplement this training, the RNLI has training vehicles, known as MTUs (Mobile Training Units), that travel around the coast. These call at stations with an instructor and training is done in the evenings during the week. This can mean that crew members will usually spend two nights a week for up to four weeks training. Each station will, on average, receive a visit from a MTU once every three years. All crew members have individual Training Logbooks in which they record their training achievements.