Welcome to Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service

Medical Team

The Medical Section of GAFIRS is a registered BASICS scheme and is known as GAFIRS IMCT (Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service Immediate Medical Care Team). The team is made up of One Doctor and Three Paramedics, One Ambulance Technician and an Emergency Care Assistant (both Doctors are also members of the Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey ICS). T Paramedics are IHCD (Institue of Health Care and Development) trained and both serving frontline. One Paramedic is a Royal Navy medic with the Dive Med Tech qualification. The team have developed, and have at their disposal, a wide range of medical equipment which has been designed or modified for use in the marine environment.

The team provides training for GAFIRS members ranging from BLS (Basic Life Support) through to Casualty Handling and Extrication. The training is designed to assist the GAFIRS members when they are having to deal with casualties and also to enable them to assist members of the team when they dealing with serious medical emergenices.

The team also provides medical support to the dive rescue and ice team at the various incidents they attend through the year.

The equipment available to the team ranges from basic first aid equipment, splintage and various rescue stretchers through to an AED (automatic external defibrillator), advanced airway management equipment and intravenous therapy equipment.

What type of incidents the Medical Team attend

A yachtsmans who suffered bruised and broken ribs following a fall in rough seas.
Following a speedboat collision, working on a 14ft speed boat with two casulaties both with major trauma (cervical and chest injuries). Both required cervical immobilisation and airlifting to hospital.This incident provided a good working relationship between the Coastguard Helcopter Medic and the two GAFIRS medics as we had never all worked together.Liason between the helicopter (who collected a BASICS doctor when returning for the second patient) and the Medics worked exceptionally well. As we had little room for the Doctor on the boat, pain relief was sent down on the winch as the patient was in severe pain.
The crews of the Gosport Rescue Service were tested last night when they had to undertake two incidents at the same time.
HM Coastguard had paged the crew of Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Services (GAFIRS) Lifeboat "Gosport Rescue One" a little before midnight to assist the Coastguard Helicopter and Cowes Inshore Lifeboat searching for an overdue sailing vessel between Cowes and Wootton, Isle of Wight.

As the lifeboat crews mustered to this callout, some came across a car accident on Lee on Solent seafront. It was evident this was a major accident and the driver required immediate medical treatment. Having ensured there were enough crews responding to the marine emergency, two members stopped at the road accident and rendered emergency medical care. This included giving resuscitation and providing cardiac chest compressions.

The two members have been nominated and will hopefully shortly recieve an award from the Royal Humane Society.

Two Paramedics from GAFIRS attended with the extra Paramedic equipment and Defib.

Despite the best efforts of Lifeboat crews, Paramedics and Doctor at the scene, the driver was certified dead.

Later that morning the Lifeboat crew were paged again at 0511 for a yacht with a patient who had been struck by the boom. Our BASICS Doctor attended to this job and the patient was transferred by lifeboat to an ambulance waiting at Haslar.

The GAFIRS Medical Team have had several more calls recently, including head injuries and laceration injuries.