Role: MRCC Commander (Humber)
Sum up your role in a few sentences:
I run the station at Humber, I work in the Operations Room as a Tactical Commander or I am liaising with stakeholders, recruiting, taking part in meetings and ensuring the station runs smoothly.
What made you want to join the coastguard?
I didn’t think I did or that I could! My dad was a winchman and I would always quiz him on the jobs when he came home, I think he got sick of me asking so rang me up one day at my previous job to tell me he had signed me up to a course at the Coastguard Station for Operations Room Assistants, they were halfway through the course and to turn up that night. The rest is history.
What aspect of work are you most proud of?
The team I represent, when it counts they step up and strive to be the best. Running a good station with decent people.
What has been the most challenging, interesting or funny incident you have had to deal with
Most bizarre 999 call was someone reporting an eagle flying into a cliff. Thinking they really meant a seagull (you know the calls reporting sea lions and penguins), when in fact it was a bird of prey from a local centre that had misjudged the cliff!
Most challenging would be a ferry on fire, evacuating those affected by smoke, knowing there was someone on board who had set the fire, managing where the ferry was going to go. It didn’t feel like a normal incident everything was really calm in the operations room and we had to keep reminding ourselves what we were dealing with.
