Fife Coastal Safety Marker Project
JOINT VENTURE BY FIFE COAST & COUNTRYSIDE TRUST, POLICE SCOTLAND                                                                                 
& ANSTRUTHER RNLI COMMUNITY SAFETY TEAM
 


The Fife Coastal Path is used by thousands of walkers each year. Within the Anstruther Lifeboat “patch”, the 25 miles section from Shell Bay to Kingsbarns follows a route that varies from rocky foreshore to steep cliff paths. The out-of-town sections can be rough underfoot and at times uneven or slippery. Over the course of each year, there are several incidents that require the involvement of emergency services including Police, Coastguard, Ambulance, Fire & Rescue and the East Neuk First Responders.
Rescues are coordinated by HM Coastguard and our RNLI crews are asked to attend, often arriving first on the scene, responding to injuries such as broken limbs and heart conditions. 
In such circumstances, the injured party can phone for help, but may not be able to communicate exactly where they are on the coastal path due to not being familiar with the locality.                            Such scenarios can often delay the arrival of first response crews. 

Anstruther RNLI Community Safety Team have been working closely with Fife Coast & Countryside Trust and Police Scotland to plan the placement of a series of 38 numbered marker posts along the length of the coastal path from Shell Bay to Kingsbarns. 

The funding of the project has only been possible due to the exceptional generosity shown by members of the public and small businesses within the community who have sponsored the posts and signage along the route.


When the project goes live, any casualty would communicate that they have passed a particular post number and this information would then be passed to emergency services in order to speed up the time it takes to reach the casualty. 



The project team are working hard to finalise the last phase of the project which includes fabricating the posts and securing them at the chosen locations. Subject to Covid restrictions it is hoped that the project will be live, late April.

Anstruther Lifeboat Coxswain, Michael Bruce, who launched the idea over 2 years ago believes the project will “dramatically reduce the time it takes for emergency services to reach a casualty and provide them with vital medical care and extraction where required”.

Further updates will be released in due course.