A group of people in Carrick on Shannon are coming together to form a rapid river response unit to help those who may get into difficulty while in the water.
It comes following a recent search operation in the area and the group now want to improve the survival rate of people who enter the water.
The group hope to provide suitable training and equipment so that a rescue can be carried out from the shore.
An information evening is being held on the 6th April in The Landmark Hotel at 7.30pm where anyone interested is invited to attend.
Chairperson of the group Sharon Garland has been explaining the group's plan
"The plan that we have at the moment is something similar to what they have in Athlone at the moment. There are these yellow boxes along the quay walls and they contain live saving equipment like throw bags, rescue robots, but the plan is that people would be able to rescue someone from the quay wall. Most of these things that happen, it is actually civilians that see it, and there's such a short window of time from a person going into the water to being able to rescue them alive that we need to have equipment on hand immediately".
