EMERGENCY services have been praised for their heroism after responding to four river rescue calls in as many nights, involving casualties in distress or difficulty in or near the Shannon River in Limerick City.
There was widespread praise on social media sites for the firefighters, marine and land search and rescue volunteers, ambulance and gardai, for their combined efforts between Friday and Tuesday last.
Firefighters were dispatched to the river at 4.40am last Friday after receiving a report that a woman in her mid-20s was in the water.
Photo: Cian Reinhardt
Three units of the fire service and the rapid response boat were dispatched to the scene but, despite a thorough search of the river, nothing was found.
The scene was handed over to Gardaí, with further searches carried out by Limerick Land Search Team & Limerick Marine Search & Rescue Service (LMSRS).
Later on Friday night, the body of a woman, aged in her 20s, was recovered from the water by volunteers with LMSRS, supported by the Shannon-based Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter.
Around 8.45pm on Sunday, firefighters were mobilised to the river again after receiving a report of a man in his late 20s/early 30s was in difficulty near the river.
Three units of fire service, including its rescue boat, responded to the scene and a man was located knee-deep in the river. Swift water rescue firefighters brought the man to shore where he was treated by HSE Paramedics and brought to UHL for assessment. Gardai were also in attendance.
About four hours into last Monday morning, the fire service was again dispatched to the river after receiving reports of a woman in distress.
Gardaí helped her from the water and she was treated at the scene by HSE Paramedics.
At around 9.30pm last Tuesday the fire service along with a crew from LMSRS were again mobilised to the river after receiving reports of a woman in the water. She was brought to safety by Swift Water Rescue Firefighters and taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.
