High-tech thermal imaging cameras for River Corrib

Galway City Tribune – Two thermal imaging cameras are to be operational in the Spanish Arch and Docks area within days, as part of an ongoing strategy to help save the lives of people who enter the city’s waterways – often late at night.

Mike Swan, Galway Lifeboat Station Manager, confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that the cameras are in the process of being put in place after years of effort to secure funding for them.

The cameras are to be located close to the Galway Harbour Office and the City Museum at the Spanish Arch, and will, according to Mike Swan, be another important addition in terms of river/sea rescue operations. The powerful heat-sensitive equipment will be able detect when a person enters the water and will be a significant aid to search and rescue operations.

One of the fastest flowing rivers to flow through any city in Europe, the Corrib poses seriously challenging rescue conditions and is too dangerous to operate small boats between the bridges.

By last evening, an online petition appeal by city woman, Sita O’Driscoll earlier this week, seeking more rescue aids to be put in place along the water network, had attracted 22,000 signatures of support.
This is a preview only. To read the rest of this article, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.