[Scan-DC] [OT] For Coast Guard enthusiasts - Britain's RNLI

[b_thom at juno.com]

You know who you are. No US equivalent? Probably some good listening over
there.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article348033.ece

Home > News > UK > This Britain 
The fourth emergency service: how watersports boom means lifeboatmen are
busier than ever 
By Oliver Duff 
Published: 27 February 2006 

....
Mr Hallard, a 54-year-old fisherman, is one of 4,500 volunteers across
Britain who drop everything, at any time of the day or night, any day of
the year, to save those in danger at sea. They are crew members of the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity that is reliant on public
donors.

The RNLI runs 233 lifeboat stations around the coasts of Britain and
Ireland, providing a full-time search and rescue service within 100
nautical miles of land. It claims to account for 90 per cent of all those
plucked from the water. Just one in 10 crew have a maritime background;
the remainder include teachers, hairdressers, housewives and chefs.