Monday 16 April 2018

Broken Ankle on the Coast Path

The busy spell continues for the team who were tasked again on Sunday to attend to a walker who'd slipped and broken an ankle on the SW Coast Path directly south of Verney Farm.

Although initially tasked to assist the ambulance service, the team arrived well before the paramedics (the benefit of local knowledge and a 4x4 response vehicle) and so set about making the 60 year old male comfortable, monitoring his condition and administering first aid.

The incident occurred south of Verney Farm to the west of the Western Mile Marker
Waterlogged, muddy and slippy ground conditions coupled with the steepness of the cliffside at that location meant that extraction on foot was never a possibility and so Rescue Helicopter 175 was dispatched from Lee on Solent.  One option was to convey the casualty to hospital, but it was decided to fly him to the ambulance (which was parked on hard ground a mile or so away) where he could be attended to by the paramedics.

R175 waits until the casualty is ready to be winched into the aircraft.  It wasn't possible to land owing to the terrain

The team returned to the station to clean up some very muddy kit and to try to find temporary accommodation for Rummage, the man's dog who had been walking with him.  Sadly, there was no room for Rummage in the helicopter and so the team looked after her until a kind hearted member of the local community came forward and offered to take her in for the night.

Terry looks pleased to get the dog walking duties!




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