A FAMILY’S lucky escape has been turned into an opportunity to save lives.
Donegal County Council is due today to officially launch the Coastal Location Code tracking system to help the emergency services find people in distress.
It comes a year after Brian Carr, from Glenties, and two children was rescued last August in waters between Ardara and Narin.
The Donegal News last week revealed that Brian, who is a Donegal County councillor in Glenties, was worried that the 999 call centre could not identify their location and proposed the Coastal Location Code tracking system.
It will today be finally unveiled at 2pm at Narin beach.
Donegal will be the first county in Ireland to have the innovation.
Cllr Carr explained that the beach is not widely well-known and his wife Marie had to give an Eircode of a house on the 999 call for the ambulance.
Some locals then directed the ambulance to the beach.
He said: “This is about speed and accuracy for the emergency services to identify locations.”
A council spokesperson said: “This new initiative will help save lives along our coastline.
“Donegal County Council and the Irish Coast Guard invite you to the launch of the Coastal Location Code (CLC) Pilot Project at Narin Blue Flag Beach.
“The project has been developed to support faster and more accurate emergency responses by providing unique location identifiers at beaches and coastal access points.
“In an emergency, beach users can simply quote the Coastal Location Code displayed on signage, helping emergency services pinpoint their location quickly when every second counts.
“Everyone is welcome to attend this important milestone in coastal safety and learn more about an innovative Donegal-led project.”