Bomb squad seen rushing through west Cornwall near Hayle

The team were also noticed at St Erth

The bomb squad, or Royal Navy EOD (Ordnance unit), has been seen rushing through west Cornwall earlier today on blue light alert.

Plenty of people noticed the crew rushing past them in both Hayle and St Erth at around 12pm.

However, a spokesman for the Royal Navy has confirmed the team has been on a training exercise and there are no emergencies currently being dealt with.

It is most likely the team were heading towards Marazion near Penzance for a half day training session.

Devon and Cornwall Police have been contacted by Cornwall Live after members of the public also saw police cars as part of the blue light convoy.

However, the force has no record of any incident ongoing.

Bomb squad rushing through St Erth

It is likely police were assisting the bomb squad with their training.

The Royal Navy spokesman explained this training is routine and would never likely last longer than the morning.

If you spot a suspicious object near the coast, dial 999 and ask for the coastguard.

Do the coastguard get paid?

There is no on-call allowance for being a coastguard, only modest expenses - and they can be expected to be called out 24/7, 365 days a year, by pager.

Individual members respond when they are available to do so.

What can the coastguard rescue team do?

The primary roles are:

Water Rescue

The team are fully trained in coastal water rescue.

They can initiate immediate rescue of persons in the water. The team are also able to retrieve persons cut off by the tide using wading techniques, set up bank-side safety for searching challenging areas and runner rescue where we can use urban features to secure ourselves in a hostile environment for example retrieving a casualty from the end of s pier in stormy weather.

The team also has a flood response capability.

First Aid/Advanced Casualty Care

The team carry and have been trained to use a comprehensive first aid kit which includes advanced measures such as airways, bag valve mask, neck collars, pelvic splint and tourniquets etc.

All members of the team have completed a first response course in casualty care with a focus on trauma.

Search

The team is highly trained in search techniques for missing/despondent persons within the literal coastal area.

The team has person profiling for different types of incident and excellent local knowledge of our coastal environment.

They can also call upon further assets such as lifeboats and helicopters to further increase our probability of detection, and are soon to further improve our search training and will be moving to a new search protocol called LAMPS which will better integrate us with the police by using the same search protocol.

Rope Rescue

The team are qualified in technical rope rescue meaning we can access, stabilise and retrieve a casualty.

They carry 200m of rope on the vehicle which is far more than needed for any cliff in are area, and can also provide this skill for vertical rescue into boats or rock armour where needed.

Casualty extraction

The team carry two types of stretcher on their vehicle both of which can be used to carry patients from a point of danger to a point of safety. They often work alongside the ambulance service with injured casualties on beaches/difficult to access areas.

TEP

HM Coastguard also have a responsibility to pyrotechnics and ordinance such as old bombs washed up on the coastline.

The team are trained to assess these incidents and implement a cordon. The Coastguard can use exemptions to transport marine flares/ pyrotechnics. With ordinance the coastguard will liaise with local Royal Navy EOD to arrange recovery and disposal of the item.

Helicopter landing sites

In poor weather where the coastguard helicopter cannot land at the hospital the team will deploy and set up an emergency landing site.

To do this the team will choose a suitable location. They will complete a sweep for foreign objects due to dangers from helicopter downdraft and relay weather condition/ wind direction to the incoming aircraft.

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Controlled explosion on Loe Bar

Off road

The coastguard operate a 4x4 vehicle with off-road tyres and have the ability to travel through areas of rough terrain or equally snow/sand etc.

Across the coast this was utilised during snow earlier in the year.

Communication

With the vehicle and individual VHF radios they have the ability to speak to other teams, and rescue assets such as lifeboats and rescue helicopters. They provide the eyes and ears for HM Coastguard operations centres. The 999 Control room in Falmouth also operates airwave communication to keep in touch with the other three emergency services if required.

You can follow the Falmouth Coastguard on Twitter @ FalmouthCRT for all the latest updates.

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