Woman airlifted after falling 30ft from cliffs into harbour in north Cornwall
A multi-agency rescue operation was carried out at Boscastle
A woman has been airlifted to hospital after falling 30ft from cliffs and into the harbour below in north Cornwall.
Coastguard crews, paramedics, police, a lifeboat, the Cornwall Air Ambulance and a rescue helicopter were all called to the scene at Boscastle on Monday.
Members of the public were cleared from the surrounding footpaths as it was decided the casualty needed to be winched to safety by helicopter.
A paramedic and stretcher were lowered down from the coastguard rescue chopper and the casualty was winched back up.
They were then airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.
Posting on Facebook, the Bude Coastguard Rescue Team said:
"Bude Coastguard Rescue Team were paged at 12:31 yesterday, and tasked to assist Boscastle Coastguard Team and paramedics from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, following a report of a female casualty who had fallen 30ft from cliffs in Boscastle harbour. The Cornwall Air Ambulance was also en route, and Port Isaac Lifeboat had also been tasked. Officers from Devon & Cornwall Police were also making their way to the scene. As two Rescue Officers from the Bude team had already been maintaining a high visibility safety patrol in the Bude area at the time, they immediately diverted from the patrol and made their way to the incident, whilst the rest of the team followed in their own vehicles.
"As Rescue Officers from Bude CRT arrived at the RV point on Boscastle harbour, they were immediately given various taskings by the Officer in Charge, including clearing members of the public from the cliff paths that surround the harbour, as a decision had since been made to scramble Rescue 924, the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter based at Newquay Airport, for a winch recovery of the casualty, as extrication from the harbour itself was deemed too risky, and with the rising tide there was no opportunity for the Cornwall Air Ambulance to land nearby.
"Once the area surrounding the casualty had been cleared, Rescue 924 arrived on scene, and proceeded to lower the winch paramedic into the harbour in order assess the situation prior to rescue. Having decided that the casualty should immediately be recovered and transported to hospital, a stretcher was then lowered to the winch paramedic, and the personnel on scene then proceeded to place and package the casualty onto the stretcher. Rescue 924 then returned to the scene, and – with members of the Boscastle team maintaining a "hi-line" to reduce the swing on the hoist cable – the winch paramedic and the casualty were recovered to the helicopter, which then made its way to Derriford Hospital.
"Shortly after the helicopter's departure, all paths were re-opened and all rescue teams returned to the RV point and were duly stood down. We wish the casualty a speedy recovery."