Call out Sutton

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Just curious as to whether any of you good people here have any information on this topic.

Was out walking the dog down on the Sutton side of the cliff walk, by Red Rock if anyone's familiar. This was about 4pm. As I was leaving the dirt road back on to Strand Rd an ambulance passed with his blues on.
As I continued down Strand Rd a DFB tender also passed.
As I reached my house the Coastguard's Sikorsky did a low pass over me and headed out towards Red Rock where it seemed to hang around for 10 mins or so. By what I could hear from 1/2 mile away anyway.

I imagine someone must have injured themselves on the rocks but any concrete info?

Cheers!

Diverman

It was a woman who had fallen on the cliff path near the Baily lighthouse. Suspect broken ankle I think. She was discovered by a member of Dublin Wicklow MRT who was out walking. He alerted Dublin CG MRCC who tasked the CG Heli S61 as it was training in Dublin bay at the time and requested an ambulance to the scene. As a callout the DFB responded with the tender from Kilbarrack and the ET from Phibsboro as well. She was recovered to the helicopter and transfered to Tallaght hospital. The Coast Guard unit in Howth was not tasked as it was considered the resources on scene were sufficient.

I think that's the bare bones of the incident.

DrIndy

Slightly off topic - does beaumont have a helipad? If so why was she transferred to Tallaght?

Diverman

I don't think Beaumont are accepting heli transfers at the moment. They don't have a dedicated helicopter pad, which is amazing since they have the National Neurosurgery Department, and I think the local football pitch they use is off line at the moment.

DrIndy

Nuts isn't it. Tallaght have a great one, shame it is miles from the ED and needs an ambulance transfer to get to it!

Australia has a helipad beside every ED.

All hospitals should have a helipad for serious evacs/transfers. We need another campaign for this as well as another campaign for a HEMS with dedicated medical backup.

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Nice one diverman!

Yeah I was surprised members from Howth CG didnt show up considering they are much closer than Kilbarrack's DFB units.

u2gooner

The motor was from North strand as Kilbarracks D61 were in attendance at an RTA on Tonlegee Road. Station officer from D42 asked ERCC to ask the Chopper if it was available as the patient was 1 mile from the ambulance over very rough and unsafe terrain. The ET from Phibsboro was not required and turned back shortly after being turned out. Patient was a tourist with a dislocated Patella. No other injuries.

Thank you to the Mountain Rescue member for his assistance

Diverman

"Nice one diverman!

Yeah I was surprised members from Howth CG didnt show up considering they are much closer than Kilbarrack's DFB units."


We don't get called for every incident we should and it has been a problem. With a casualty one mile from extraction we certainly would have been on scene first if alerted at the same time as the ambulance. The problem is that often the situation is not evident until the ambulance crew arrives on scene they usually then will ask for the helicopter or task their own ET and tenders. We then will get tasked because the crews are looking for the helicopter and Coast Guard MRCC will alert us. This can be anything up to twenty minutes or more after the initial 999 call. Some 999 calls that should be routed to the Coast Guard are going to the fire service and they naturally respond as they do extremely well. No fault can be put on the 999 system or on the fire service it's just that if the CG teams were alerted at the same time we could be on scene to assist and maybe contribute to a faster extraction. We know the cliffs and their nearest access points very well and have the kit and manpower for difficult terrain assistance. We can also talk directly to the helicopter and train with them in winching and landing in difficult areas.

I use the words 'fire service' as it's not just a Dublin problem

Well done to all on a successful rescue.

Smokey Bear

This was an intresting case as it high lighted a number of things
The response time for Howth CG on average is about 20mins to on scene depending on traffic and day of week (a discussion for another day maybe)DFB tend to be on scene first .CG is a resource that should be used more often why its not on DFB PDA to alert CG for certain calls i dont know some people seem to have a problem for asking other ES for help!
There has been a few cases of when howth CG have been on foot patrol around Howth head and DFB have had an incident and crews have gone on a welly waddle up cliffs not knowing that CG personel were around the corner who could assist.After all its the PT that we are ment to be looking after.

The problem with the 999 operator and routing of call could be solved if nature of case was asked before call is transfered to relevent ES.

I belive the Dep officer for CG was called for this one but did not consider it neccasary for CG unit to be tasked based on info given.

The PDA for Helio landings seems to have changed as 72 were returned to station by DO who said they no longer responding to landings, seemed to be news to ERCC .Beamount landing site is now a building site many other options out there.

BeardyGit

u2gooner wrote: »

<snip>

Thank you to the Mountain Rescue member for his assistance

I'll pass on the message. The DWMRT team member in question is actually one of our rostered Callout officers and former Team Leader and has decades of experience in providing casualty care in somewhat similar circumstances, in many instances involving our colleagues in CHC/IRCG. In fact, one of the crew operating the S61 at the time happens to be another member of the DWMRT too, although that's purely conincidental!

The team member on the ground happened to be approached by a passer by who asked was he a first aider, and whether he could help a girl who had slipped.... The team members companion attended to the casualty while he tried to get mobile phone coverage to put the call in. It was at this time he noticed the S61 was airborne somewhere close to Dun Laoighre, probably on a training flight I guess.

He immediately put in a call to the MRCC to determine if the air asset could be diverted, which it was.... The rest as they say is history.

As ever, we're glad to be of service to our fellow services

AlekSmart

I don't think Beaumont are accepting heli transfers at the moment. They don't have a dedicated helicopter pad, which is amazing since they are have the National Neurosurgery Department, and I think the local football pitch they use is off line at the moment.

Diverman is spot-on.

It really does invite questions on the entire aspect of why we as a country appear unable to handle the concept of Planning.

Beaumont,Tallaght and many other such locations are the most modern locations,consulted upon to the n`th degree by,what we were assured were exceedingly qualified professionals.....who in a great many different field appear to have had degrees in Pin-A-Tail-On-The-Donkey.

There are enough on the ground examples of this lack of common sense to keeps us busy for years !!

sdanseo

u2gooner wrote: »

The motor was from North strand as Kilbarracks D61 were in attendance at an RTA on Tonlegee Road.

Is there not two or three tenders based at Kilbarrack? How do they work the shifts, could there be a pump available but with no-one to crew it or is it purely a backup? Same seems to be the case in a lot of stations?

For example, Swords would be my nearest and I've heard reference to say an incident in Malahde being attended by one tender from Swords and backed up by Kilbarrack - is this to keep one available at both, or am I getting confused completely?

Also, would anyone reckon there's a need for a tender based in Howth? It can be a fair trek to get a vehicle of any size down that coast road when it's busy from Kilbarrack and they have to provide backup cover for half the northside - presuming im not misled re the above could it be the case that all it takes is an incident at Coolock and North Strand is left to cover most of the eastern North city? Looking at the locations pinned in Google Earth, Kilbarrack certainly has a massive catchment area.

Paulzx

sdonn wrote: »

Is there not two or three tenders based at Kilbarrack? How do they work the shifts, could there be a pump available but with no-one to crew it or is it purely a backup? Same seems to be the case in a lot of stations?

For example, Swords would be my nearest and I've heard reference to say an incident in Malahde being attended by one tender from Swords and backed up by Kilbarrack - is this to keep one available at both, or am I getting confused completely?

Also, would anyone reckon there's a need for a tender based in Howth? It can be a fair trek to get a vehicle of any size down that coast road when it's busy from Kilbarrack and they have to provide backup cover for half the northside - presuming im not misled re the above could it be the case that all it takes is an incident at Coolock and North Strand is left to cover most of the eastern North city? Looking at the locations pinned in Google Earth, Kilbarrack certainly has a massive catchment area.

There is only one fire engine in Kilbarrack. It is a one pump station as distinct from North Strand which is a two pump station. Most stations in dublin are crewed fulltime i.e there is a full crew on station 24 hours a day. The exceptions to this are Balbriggan and Skerries which operate a retained system using pagers.

A tender in Howth is not required and will never be considered. The cost implications for a fulltime station are huge. Howth will continue to be covered by Kilbarrack and North Strand. if they are unavailable due to already attending a call Phibsboro, Finglas and Swords will enter the equation

sdanseo

Paulzx wrote: »

There is only one fire engine in Kilbarrack. It is a one pump station as distinct from North Strand which is a two pump station. Most stations in dublin are crewed fulltime i.e there is a full crew on station 24 hours a day. The exceptions to this are Balbriggan and Skerries which operate a retained system using pagers.

A tender in Howth is not required and will never be considered. The cost implications for a fulltime station are huge. Howth will continue to be covered by Kilbarrack and North Strand. if they are unavailable due to already attending a call Phibsboro, Finglas and Swords will enter the equation

Time for a really noobish rebuttal - often you will see two pumps parked behind te glass doors at Kilbarrack, and at Swords. Is one just visiting/spare or just that there is no crew around for it?

Paulzx

sdonn wrote: »

Time for a really noobish rebuttal - often you will see two pumps parked behind te glass doors at Kilbarrack, and at Swords. Is one just visiting/spare or just that there is no crew around for it?

There are always crew for one pump in both of them stations. There is never two manned pumps there. There are various reasons why you could see a second vehicle parked there.

It could be a reserve motor in case of breakdown of a frontline appliance.
It could be an engine from another station temporarly there to carry out training
It could be an engine from the driving school called in whilst on driver training.
It could be a truck from logistics section parked up whilst delivering equipment.


Irrespective of why you see two appliances parked there each station is permanantly a one pump station and at all times is manned to this level

no1girliegirl

We do have a proper air ambulance provided by the Air Corps but it mainly provides hospital to hospital transfer, neo natel, brain injury etc, it's a real pitty if you ask me that our goverment doesnt use them to the full potential, they currently dont allow roadside air ambulance like they do in the UK, this is you ask me is what should be getting used in cases like the one above.

But well done to all DFB on the case, i know how painfull a dislocated knee is. And well done to all Rescue teams they do great work.