Pat Flynn
A woman has been rescued from the sea in Co Clare after getting into difficulty while swimming on Sunday morning.
The alarm was raised at approximately 11.30am when emergency services received a report of a person in trouble off the Black Rock at Spanish Point.
Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub-centre on Valentia Island in Co Kerry mounted a multi-agency search and rescue operation involving the Kilkee unit of the Coast Guard, Clare County Fire and Rescue Service, National Ambulance Service, the RNLI and Gardaí.
A man walking on the beach at the time is understood to have entered the water and helped the woman ashore.
It is believed the woman, thought to be in her 60s, got into difficulty after finding herself out of her depth in the water.
The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, and the Aran Islands RNLI lifeboat were also tasked, but were stood down when it was confirmed the woman had been brought ashore.
The Kilkee Coast Guard rescue boat was also preparing to launch when the mission was stood down.
Other Irish Coast Guard teams from Kilkee station travelled to the scene by road, along with fire crews from Ennistymon, while an ambulance was dispatched from Limerick, understood to have been the closest National Ambulance Service resource available at the time.
The woman was assessed and treated at the scene for suspected shock and hypothermia by Coast Guard and fire service first responders until ambulance paramedics arrived.
The woman was further assessed by paramedics but did not require hospitalisation.
