Every lifeboat volunteer undergoes hundreds of hours of training to get them up to the level of expertise needed to join a crew. But even with the best instruction available, a crew member’s first shout can still be a leap into the unknown.

For sheep farmer Emma, based in St Davids on the Pembrokeshire coast, her first rescue is a real test of character - a rock climber who’s fallen into the water and is within seconds of falling unconscious. In Minehead, three kayakers are swept out to sea as darkness falls, and when only one makes it back to raise the alarm, young crew member Matt faces his first ever shout at night - an increasingly desperate search in complete darkness.

It’s not just rookie crew members who face a baptism of fire - in Peterhead, after years on the crew, Patrick’s first shout as coxswain is to try to rescue a 170-ton fishing boat that’s lost all power and is perilously close to the rocks in gale force winds and heavy seas. Show less