RNLI lifeguards who resuscitated a man found unconscious and not breathing in a beach car park have been praised for their rescue efforts.

The charity’s lifeguards were alerted by a member of the public at about noon on Wednesday to a man who had collapsed in the car park at Tenby South Beach.

Senior RNLI lifeguard George Stottor, who was returning from training at Tenby Castle Beach at the time, was first to respond. Kirk Lester, senior lifeguard on duty at Tenby South Beach, immediately called for an ambulance and other support, while fellow duty lifeguards Angus Wyatt and Katie Sutton took first aid equipment and the automated external defibrillator (AED) and joined George in the car park.

George, Angus and Katie found the collapsed man, who was around 60-years-old, lying face down unconscious and not breathing.

After carrying out an initial survey of the casualty, the lifeguards, who are all fully first aid trained, immediately started CPR while readying the AED. Working as a team, they carried out between 10 and 15 minutes of resuscitation before the man’s heart started beating, he started breathing again and slowly he regained consciousness.

By this time the lifeguard team had been joined by firefighters from Tenby Fire Station, who joined the resuscitation efforts, closely monitoring the man’s condition as he continued to regain consciousness. They made him comfortable until an ambulance arrived to take him to hospital a short time later.

RNLI lifeguard supervisor Chris Rigby, who arrived on scene shortly after the man regained consciousness, said: “We were all glad to be able to help this man and we really hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

“The lifeguards involved in responding to this incident worked together with the local firefighters as a team and when faced with a serious situation their training kicked in to provide an immediate and crucial response.

“As well as being able to respond to water emergencies, our lifeguards are casualty care trained to a high standard and can provide lifesaving treatment in and around the beach environment. We would always encourage people to come to the lifeguard units on our beaches and ask for help if they see anyone in need of assistance on or near the beach.”