Lifeboat crews rescue four during punk festival on Cramond Island

Lifeboat volunteers and coastguard teams rescued four people during a punk festival on Cramond Island in the Firth of Forth on Saturday, according to Queensferry Lifeboat and HM Coastguard.

The RNLI and HM Coastguard were joined by an ambulance crew after reports of a woman with an ankle injury around 4.29pm. Two lifeboat crew members went ashore and located the casualty on a rocky slope on the north of the island.

They initially had difficulty finding the woman due to large crowds attending the Cramond Isle of Punk festival. She was found to have a lower-leg fracture and was given pain relief. While plans were being made to evacuate her, reports came through of another injured woman.

The second casualty was located after another search through the crowds. She was unconscious but breathing, and after being given oxygen she regained consciousness and was able to speak with rescuers. She was taken by lifeboat to Cramond Village, where an ambulance was waiting.

While at Cramond Village, the lifeboat picked up Scottish Trauma and Orthopaedic Retrieval Team (SORT) paramedics and transported them to the island to assist the first casualty. Due to her location, it was decided the safest option was to evacuate her by helicopter. Coastguard helicopter Rescue 199 lifted her from the island and took her to Cramond Village, where she was transferred to an ambulance.

While waiting for the helicopter, responders assessed a third casualty who had suffered a head injury but did not require further medical treatment. A fourth person later presented with lower-back pain after reportedly falling from height; SORT assessed them and advised them to attend A&E when possible.

Queensferry Lifeboat returned to its station at around 8pm after all casualties had been assessed and treated.

A spokesperson for Queensferry Lifeboat said: "This was a great example of a multi-agency incident, where lifeboat crew, coastguard, SORT, ambulance, police and coastguard helicopter teams worked together for a successful resolution to the incident."

The spokesperson added: "We would like to extend our thanks to all those involved, including the members of the public who assisted on the island."

Cramond Island is a 46-acre tidal island roughly a mile offshore from Cramond in north-west Edinburgh. It is connected to the mainland by a causeway at low tide, but visitors can be cut off quickly when the tide comes in. Attendees at the punk music event had to make the tidal crossing between 8am and noon.