An elderly woman who fell and injured her head on the island of Lindisfarne had to be brought back to the mainland by lifeboat for urgent treatment.
The Holy Island Coastguard team and Seahouses RNLI were called to Holy Island off the Northumberland coast on Tuesday afternoon.
Just after 5.20pm, Seahouses RNLI launched their lifeboat in order to convey an ambulance crew to Holy Island, where the woman needed medical treatment.
Holy Island Coastguard officers were already on the scene treating the casualty.
The causeway was being closed off by the rising tide and had the ambulance crew crossed themselves, they would have been cut off on the island.
After the arrival of the paramedics at Seahouses, the crew made best speed to Holy Island in quite rough sea conditions, making the journey "uncomfortable" for all aboard the lifeboat.
The lifeboat arrived at 6.20pm and the two paramedics were transported to the casualty by the Coastguard rescue team.
After stabilising the woman, she was placed aboard the lifeboat, and brought back to Seahouses at 8.28pm, where she was transferred to the ambulance and taken to the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital at Cramlington.
Lifeboat operations manager Ian Clayton said: “While this was not a Covid-19 related incident, our crew made use of the PPE provided by the RNLI.
"It is not possible to social distance aboard a lifeboat, so any call will put our crews at some risk.
"However, the RNLI will continue to launch and respond as normal when needed.
"On this occasion, it was an uncomfortable but necessary passage for the casualty and the ambulance personnel.
"We wish the casualty a speedy recovery, and hope she had no adverse effects due to the unpleasant sea conditions while aboard the lifeboat. It was another good example of all of the services working well together."
