The new year for people living and working in Orkney was ushered in slightly differently in 2026, with Coastguard Rescue Teams across the islands providing an emergency response to sustained snow drifts and exceptionally extreme weather.
Described as ‘relentless’ by James Delday, Station Officer of Kirkwall Coastguard Rescue Team, three 14-hour days ran the course of an entire weekend from Friday 2 January, and saw Jim and his Deputy Mark Rendall coordinate a more unusual HM Coastguard response: sustaining care services across the island.
"Vital NHS staff needed to help their patients and care across the community had to continue,” says Jim, a longstanding Coastguard since 1977 with both operations room and coastal operations experience.
“It started with an evening call requesting our assistance to someone stuck in snow, but we soon saw conditions worsen. Our team members didn’t return from that call until 4am the next morning, then three hours later at 7am, the next tasking came in.”
With persistent and strong winds whipping up snow drifts that continued to fall over Orkney, James and Mark were called upon by Coastal Operations Area Commander Dave Sweeney to manage the coordination of around 18 Coastguard Rescue Officers supporting the continued operation of the island community.
HM Coastguard team members trained in 4x4 driving set out on numerous taskings amid challenging conditions to move NHS staff between medical practices, the island’s main Balfour Hospital, and care in the community settings.
Jim said: “The NHS made a call through the system requesting that we need to help doctors, nurses, specialists, and midwives to change shift at the hospital. The main roads were only starting to be treated, and the side roads were impassable.
“To maintain the community’s health needs, it was vital for the hospital to continue running so the whole community pitched in, as we often do, to help everyone.”
The team members were up early each morning to help family members deliver and administer care and medications to loved ones, as well as shuttle medical professionals through dense snow.
They were also called upon to support travel for patients in need of urgent and lifesaving medical care, including dialysis and cancer treatment.
“Our Coastguards come from a range of backgrounds and occupations. That weekend, they dropped everything and said, ‘there's people in need of help, let's get this operation underway,” said Jim.
Coastal Operations Area Commander Dave Sweeney said: “It’s been a tremendous effort and a phenomenal task undertaken by Jim, his team, and everyone across Orkney and Shetland.
“Being on the islands, our resilience is different to that of the mainland, but we’re well-equipped, well-resourced, and capable. Everyone helps each other out, and we’re glad to be part of that effort, including our colleagues at Orkney Local Emergency Coordinating Group (OLECG) and Shetland Emergency Planning Forum (SEPF).
“Our teams completed around 100 transfers of vital staff and carers to our communities and ensured our MRCC Shetland staff could also make it into work to continue crucial HM Coastguard coordination.”
He added: “With snow continuing to stack around us, our community spirit kicked in. While words genuinely escape me for the praise I feel, I can’t thank our teams enough for their commitment and dedication to the communities they serve.”
