All hands on deck as narrowboat used to rescue patient hurt on canal
Paramedics for West Midlands Ambulance Service hitched a ride on a narrowboat to get a patient with a leg injury to safety.
They had been called to the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal near Boggs Lock in Gailey to reports of a patient on a narrowboat who had suffered a leg injury.
WMAS dispatched one ambulance to the South Staffordshire village with the paramedics facing a walk of about a mile down the towpath carrying their equipment with them – despite parking as close as possible to the patient.
They assessed the man and treated him for his leg injury, but had to get him back to County Hospital further north in Stafford.
Luckily the paramedics were offered a lift by a passing narrowboat and were able to travel back up the canal with the patient to the parked ambulance.
Jamie Arrowsmith, a spokesman for WMAS, explained: "Once with the patient, a man thought to be in his 60s, they assessed him and treated him for a leg injury, on which he was unable to apply weight.
"Faced with a dilemma of how to get the patient back to the ambulance in order to transport him to County Hospital, Stafford, the crew were offered a cruise back up the canal by Richard Gray of Birmingham and Midland Marine Services who was working nearby.
"Ambulance staff carefully assisted the man on to the awaiting boat before cruising up the canal back towards where the ambulance was parked."
He was then moved on to a stretcher and carried the final part of the journey on to the back of the ambulance before being taken to hospital. Mr Arrowsmith added the job was one of the most 'unusual' the service had come across.
He said: "This was certainly one of the more unusual jobs for our staff to come across. Thanks go to Richard for his assistance in helping the patient on to the back of the ambulance as quickly as possible."
The incident happened shortly after 2pm last Thursday afternoon.
