Incident at Lopwell Dam

A glance at the various memorable 'shouts' recollected by the Air Ambulance paramedics clearly demonstrates the range of incidents they confront on a daily basis and emphasises that they can never know what to expect.

One such incident called on just about every skill at the paramedic's disposal including experience, teamwork, intuition and no little amount of bravery.

Leading Ambulance Paramedic Stuart Holt was on duty with his colleague Haydn Glanvilland Rob Mackie as duty pilot in April 2003 when they responded to an incident at Lopwell Dam on the River Tavy where somebody was reported to have fallen, sustaining serious leg injuries.

It took 19 minutes for the helicopter to cover the 37 miles to the scene where a land ambulance crew from Tavistock were already searching the dense woodland for the casualty's location. Once the patient had been spotted, it was realised that landing was going to be tricky and Rob Mackie expertly balanced one of the helicopter skids on a fallen tree enabling Haydn, who was in the forward seat, to climb out and race to the patient.

It wasn't long before he had located not one, but two patients, a husband and wife who had slipped and fallen some 30 feet while out walking. She had wrist and ankle injuries but her husband had sustained leg, chest and possibly spinal injuries.

By now the aircraft had landed and shut down on safe ground around 300 metres away from the patients. Stuart and Rob joined Haydnwho was working with the land crew to treat the casualties with limb splintage, wound care, intravenous fluid therapy, analgesia and full spinal immobilisation for the male patient.

The challenge now was how to get them out of there.Although the paramedics had been joined by fire and rescue crews, it was clear that the steep terrain would make it difficult and dangerous to carry the patients either through the forest to the road or downstream to the helicopter.

The answer arrived when a doctor who lived locally and who was helping at the scene, mentioned he had a rubber dinghy - so an amphibious rescue was added to the airborne one.

Stuart and Rob returned to prepare the helicopter while Haydn and the doctor paddled the dinghy loaded with the male patient downstream to the helicopter where he was immediately flown to Derriford Hospital.The female patient was attended to by the land ambulance crew in very hostile conditions until the air ambulance returned from Plymouth to pick her up to join her husband.

In an amazing rescue involving the Devon Air Ambulance, a land ambulance, the Fire and Rescue Service, some determined local residents and a boat, all the qualities of the emergency services were deployed to their full and it didn't go unrecognised.