Coastguard Northern Region - 2018 Performance Report

OUR CUSTOMERS
Badly burned and hypothermic,
he waited for rescue
Coastguard responds when fireball engulfs solo sailor
Hypothermic and huddled under a duvet in
the shower on his yacht, Peter Wills waited
for rescue and medical attention, hoping it
was coming.
Just minutes earlier, Peter had suffered
severe burns when an explosion in the engine
room of his yacht engulfed him in a fireball,
turning an overnight trip in early March into
an evening he would never forget.
Shortly before 2200 hours, Coastguard
Radio received a distress relay call from a
vessel reporting that someone was in trouble
on a boat near Huhuri Bay, Waiheke Island.
Realising the urgency of the situation, the
Operations Centre quickly tasked Coastguard
Auckland’s ASB and Lion Foundation Rescue
vessels to the incident. Responding as
quickly as they dared in dark and choppy
conditions, the rescue vessels reached
Peter’s badly damaged boat within twenty
minutes.
Coastguard volunteer Chris Griggs boarded
the yacht to find Peter in severe pain and
suffering from mild hypothermia.
“The fire had caused significant burns to
his lower body. He had done the right thing
in getting wet and sitting under the cold
water but in doing so he had started to go
hypothermic and was in immense pain.”
As a trained medic, Chris was able
to administer pain relief, enabling the
crew to move Peter to Lion Foundation
Rescue before transporting him to meet
the Auckland Rescue Helicopter team at
Kennedy Point.
Now attention turned to the fire-damaged
yacht. ASB Rescue stayed with the vessel
and awaited the return of Lion Foundation
Rescue with firefighters on board to ensure
any hot spots were dampened down.
ASB Rescue then stayed nearby overnight
with the unaccompanied yacht until friends
of Peter took responsibility.
Despite the severity of his burns, Peter, who
lives on board his vessel and was attending
to maintenance in his engine room when the
incident occurred, says he realises that the
outcome for him could have been a great
deal worse.
First responder Chris Giggs says, “Situations
like these certainly see your training kick
in. It’s huge credit to the volunteer crews
involved in the incident; we gave Peter
his best chance of survival and wish
him all the best with his recovery.”
8
WE GAVE PETER THE BEST
CHANCE OF SURVIVAL
Chris Griggs, Coastguard Auckland volunteer