Brighton’s seafront team have been thanked for saving the life of a woman who was in the waves this morning.
A seafront officer who was patrolling the beach as normal spotted the distressed woman in the water opposite the Grand Hotel at about 11.15am.
He pulled the woman out of the water, called 999, and took her to the seafront office where they warmed her up with blankets while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
A council spokeswoman said: “The person’s core temperature was 32.4 – almost severely hypothermic. Credit to the seafront officer whose swift recognition, rescue and subsequent aftercare without doubt, helped save the person’s life.
“Water rescues in December are not the easiest thing to successfully perform, especially given the temperatures and residual energy from yesterday’s gale force winds.”
A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 11.30am to the seafront offices on Kings Road Arches. There were concerns for a woman who had been in the water suffering from the cold.
“She was given blankets and kept warm. We thank the seafront team for everything they did to help her.
“One ambulance and one paramedic car arrived and the woman, who was conscious and suffering from the effects of the cold, was assessed at the scene before being taken into hospital for checks.”