Monday 10th August 2015 – 9.55pm – Murray MacGregor.
A man who was helping to cut down trees was literally moments from death when ambulance staff arrived.
The man who was in his 50s was at a property in Erdington when he fell from an A-frame aluminium ladder, landing on it, leaving it bent from the force of the fall.
When a paramedic on a rapid response vehicle and a paramedic area support officer arrived less than five minutes after the call, the man was about to go into full cardiac arrest and would have had only minutes to live if he hadn’t received urgent treatment.
The incident happened at about 5.25pm on Monday afternoon.
Area Support Officer, James Williams, said: “This was almost a very tragic accident. One minute the man was helping to cut trees, the next the ladder had slipped and he was on top of it.
“The paramedic who was here first provided life-saving treatment for his collapsed lung; if she hadn’t acted quickly he would have had a cardiac arrest.
“After treatment he perked up remarkably but still had a serious chest and abdominal injuries and spinal tenderness.”
An ambulance and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Staffordshire arrived shortly afterwards to provide advanced pain relief.
The man was taken to Heartlands Hospital on blue lights and although he had suffered serious injuries, his prognosis appeared positive.
Note to Editors
Due to the location, we are not able to give out any more exact details of where the incident took place for fear of identifying the patient – we hope you understand.
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