Brigade Member Assist Woman Injured In Fall

Brigade members work together to care for woman injured in fall

While heading to the Brigade’s Watch House for the monthly training exercise on a wild and windy Winter’s night on Wednesday 4th January 2012, Brigade member Donna Robson spotted a woman who had been blown over by the wind and had sustained a significant head injury after banging her head on a lamppost as she fell down. The incident occurred just before 7pm on Beach Road, Tynemouth, near to ‘The Broadway’ roundabout. At the time the weather was particularly poor with extremely strong winds and occasional rain showers.

Assisted by members of the public, Donna assessed the casualty and immediately ensured an ambulance had been called due to the severity of the head injury before doing the best she could to stem the bleeding and make the casualty as comfortable and warm as possible. To make this more achievable, Donna contacted Brigade Section Leader Dan Reed, who lives near by to where the incident occurred, and asked him to attend the scene with blankets and cushions which would be used until the Ambulance arrived.

Within a matter of minutes, a North East Ambulance Service Road Ambulance arrived and, to Dan and Donna’s delight, out stepped Brigade member Richard Ilderton who is also Team Leader at Backworth Ambulance Station. In the following minutes all present worked closely together as the casualty was carefully transferred into the Ambulance, a process made particularly difficult due to the extreme winds which were occurring at the time, before she was taken to North Tyneside General Hospital for further assessment and treatment. Due to the nature of her injury, the lady was kept in overnight for observation but it was hoped that she would make a full recovery.

The Brigade would like to thank Dan and Donna for the treatment and care they showed to the casualty which helped to make sure that her condition did not deteriorate any further before the arrival of the Ambulance.

The Brigade has had a close working relationship with the North East Ambulance Service for many years which has been strengthened in recent years through the presence of Richard and another Brigade member, who are both paramedics. This allows for all Brigade members to receive high-quality advice and training and be fully aware of how best to care for casualties and what information to pass over during a handover with a paramedic.

Following the casualty leaving the scene, Dan and Donna both then continued on their way to the Watch House where they joined fourteen other Brigade members and carried out a Breeches Buoy Exercise on Collingwood’s Field.

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