Shut road meant airlift for ill Millom man
Last updated at 15:05, Sunday, 29 July 2012
A PATIENT had to be airlifted from Millom to Barrow because the A595 closure would have delayed his arrival at hospital by an hour.
The 86-year-old, from Millom, was flown to Furness General Hospital in a critical condition.
A spokesman for the Great North Air Ambulance said the decision was taken to fly the patient to hospital as it would have taken him an hour to get to Barrow from Millom by land ambulance.
The spokesman said: “The patient was in a very serious condition and the journey to Barrow, with the road as it was, would have taken an hour, where as the flight took five minutes.
“With someone in a serious condition it’s crucial that they get to hospital as soon as possible and just wasn’t on for him to go by road in this case.”
Paramedics and a local doctor were called to treat the man after he fell seriously ill at home on Thursday afternoon. At about 3.45pm the Pride of Cumbria helicopter was called in from Penrith to transport him to hospital for further treatment.
There was no update on the man’s condition as the Evening Mail went to press.
The A595 at Grizebeck re-opened yesterday, having been closed to traffic since last Friday evening.
A collision between a car and a barn wall at Dove Ford Farm forced the closure after fallen debris meant it was unsafe for traffic to pass.
But Cumbria County Council announced it had reopened at about 2pm yesterday.
The road's closure created chaos among motorists travelling between Barrow and Millom, with drivers forced to take a 14-mile detour on the A5092.
The situation has renewed calls from residents and some council representatives for a causeway to be built across the Duddon Estuary. The airlift drama comes only days after Dave Grisdale, training co-ordinator for Kirkby First Responders, said the road closure could put lives at risk.
Mr Grisdale said the responders would have struggled to attend a callout in Grizebeck, from Kirkby, within their five-minute target.
Speaking to the Evening Mail on Thursday, he said: “If people aren’t given any treatment within 10 minutes of a heart attack then they stand a far lesser chance of survival.”
There were further problems for motorists yesterday when temporary traffic lights on the A590 near Swarthmoor caused long tailbacks in both directions.
First published at 13:10, Sunday, 29 July 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
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Have your say
Delayed his arrival at hospital by an hour...I think not. I travel this road to work and the detour via Ulverston has added between 5 and 10 mins to my journey. I note in the main text, it states that the whole journey would have been about an hour, so some redemption for the scaremongering.
Ok, its bad what has happened, and the roads are poor, but tell the truth. This is supposed to be a newspaper after all!
Posted by Traveller on 29 July 2012 at 21:11