Thursday 9th July 2015 – 9.45am – Claire Brown.
It was a 999 team effort earlier this morning after paramedics, police officers and fire fighters helped to rescue and resuscitate a man found in a canal in Birmingham.
West Midlands Ambulance Service was called to reports of a drowning in Birmingham and Fazeley Canal off William Booth Lane in the City Centre at around 1.15am today (Thursday). Two ambulances, a community paramedic, a paramedic area support officer and specialist Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedics attended the scene.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “The man, who was face down in the middle of the canal, couldn’t be reached from the canal towpath so HART paramedics quickly donned their water rescue gear and jumped into the water.
“When the HART paramedics reached the man and assessed him, he wasn’t breathing and was in cardiac arrest. Paramedics pulled him to the side of the canal where fire fighters, police and fellow ambulance colleagues were ready to lift him out of the water.
“The team of staff commenced advanced life support on the man at the scene and CPR efforts continued in the back of the ambulance en route to City Hospital. Upon arrival in A&E, the man’s heart had been restarted by ambulance staff but the man’s condition remained serious.”
ENDS