DÉFENSE ZONE
The fourth generation of his family to volunteer with the French national sea rescue society (SNSM) in Palavas-les-Flots, Jean-François Romieu has headed the station for 10 years. As senior coxswain, he has many missions whose purpose is to help sea users and save lives, while training the next generation of sea rescuers at one of the oldest stations in France.
A family story
When asked why he wanted to join the sea rescue service, he struggles to answer, so obvious did it seem to this man, who is the fourth generation of his family to be a rescuer in Palavas: “It’s a family story. My great-grandfather was already a volunteer here when the station was founded in 1867, followed by my grandfather. When it was my father’s turn, I watched him set off on call-outs, full of admiration. Taking over was the obvious thing for me.”
This volunteer commitment brightens the daily life of the man in his fifties, who is also a reservist gendarme. “What drives me is the wish to help others and my love of the sea; it’s enjoyable. And we’re a band of passionate friends, 18 people who are very close-knit, which is very important both for the enjoyment and for operations”, he says.
Constant training
The crew, made up of coxswains, boat crew and onboard swimmers, trains every Thursday evening from 6.30 pm to 9 pm, all year round and in all weathers. The aim is to maintain fitness and knowledge while improving procedures. The training sessions vary: searching for a boat, recovering casualties, first aid, towing, righting capsized boats, and so on.
The SNSM also regularly trains with Dragon 34, the Civil Protection helicopter that carries out winching at sea. The volunteers also help all the maritime players who support them, in particular the Palavas town council, which helped fund the new lifeboat in 2019, and they also scatter ashes at sea (when a deceased person has requested it, the SNSM can carry out this wish in compliance with maritime regulations), which takes time.
You can find this article in full in Défense Zone issue 7
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