Collapse Building Alert Sparks Multi Agency Rescue
The report of a collapse within a house in the Ketley Town area of Telford saw crews from the Ambulance Service and Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service carry out a rescue operation early on Sunday evening. The male occupier was working on a staircase which gave way causing him to fall into the void below. Trapped and injured the emergency services worked to free him.
The incident was attended by both wholetime and retained pumping appliances and one rescue tender from Wellington, a rescue pump from Telford Central along with two officers. The ambulance service response included an ambulance, fast response vehicle and members of the West Midlands Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).
With the staircase still unsafe, Fire Service personnel used specialist shoring equipment which allowed more personnel to move in and move the entire staircase away from the casualty. He was then able to be treated by the Paramedics on-scene. After initial treatment he was taken away by road ambulance to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
Incident Commander, Watch Manager Ian Leigh said: “We had to move quickly but carefully to stabilise the situation to allow medical treatment to be carried out. We were able to remove the entire staircase giving access for the Ambulance crews. Thanks to the equipment and specialist training our rescue tender crews receive, we were able to do this within our initial response to the incident rather than have to wait for extra resources to come from elsewhere.”
He continued: “The emergency services often have to work in difficult and challenging circumstances in order to help those who need it the most. This was yet another one of those occasions.”
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