Rescue from Wells cathedral roof

[mmitch]

An unusual rescue from Wells cathedral roof.
BBC News - Wells Cathedral fall: Woman rescued from bell tower
mmitch.

[76fan]

I wonder why Yeovilton, just down the road, didn't do the job .... and I don't want to start any RAF vs RN rubbish!

[sedburgh]

Maybe because Yeovilton don't have aircraft on SAR standby?

[Al-bert]

76fan
because Yeovilton don't have a rescue helicopter, crewed or equipped?

Ezekiel 1:4-28
And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north.....

Good old Zeke, well, he wasn't to know back then was he!


Sedburgh - you just beat me to it

[krypton_john]

".... and I don't want to start any RAF vs RN rubbish!"

Why is it that the RN ones are so smart and tidy and the RAF ones look like they fell out of a skip?

<ducks>

[Al-bert]

cos they work for a living - the RAF ones

[76fan]

Ignoring the usual stupid comments which I expected and we get on here from some prats ...... all RN pilots are trained to winch and Yeovilton is so close I would still have expected them to be called first.

[[email protected]]

76fan - sadly a typical attitude to winching - just cuff it

As it happens we did a thorough recce of the roof area, liaised with the Hazardous Rescue Team (HART) on scene, established the compatibility of kit between us and the medical services to ensure the comfort and safety of the casualty, briefed the HART guys on using a hi-line to stabilise the stretcher and performed the rescue as safely and expeditiously as possible.

It's called being professional which is probably why we were asked to do the job instead of letting a scratch crew who have only ever winched over the water without live people on the wire pitch up and make a mess of it.

[That SAR Chap]

Originally Posted by s76fan

Ignoring the usual stupid comments which I expected and we get on here from some prats ...... all RN pilots are trained to winch and Yeovilton is so close I would still have expected them to be called first.

Oh the irony of your first sentence...

The SAR crew did the (far from straight forward, by the looks of it) SAR task. You won't hear SAR crews asking why they were not used for SH tasking when it's near to base.

Don't forget that it's more than simply winching - it's providing a paramedic, spinal immobilisation, monitoring equipment and an effective medical handover to a hospital. Exactly as SH is not simply troops from A to B.

[Al-bert]

instead of letting a scratch crew who have only ever winched over the water without live people on the wire pitch up and make a mess of it.

oh they can do that over the water too Crab!
You'll have to wait til I finish my book to read the facts about the '79 Fastnet goatf..

[Union Jack]

A big BZ to [email protected] and the light blue team on a very unusual job very well done - and yes, I do mean it!

Jack

[[email protected]]

Thanks UJ

The prize for the best headline goes to the Sun with 'Church and Rescue'

[John Eacott]

Watching it on TV I was impressed by the smoothness of the operation.

But now I know crab@ was driving I'm not going to mention it



Seriously, well done to all involved

[76fan]

Of course well done to the crew and obviously there were factors to consider which presumably led to the decision that it could be done better by the RAF SAR. Isn't it sad that there is still the "them and us" attitude even when rescue of any sort involved.

[[email protected]]

There is no them an us attitude anywhere except in your head - hovering is hovering but there is a whole lot more to taking someone from a precarious position safely than just hovering.

Training and expertise are not dirty words

[Ian Corrigible]

Originally Posted by Crab

Training and expertise are not dirty words

Good job you weren't winching anyone from a crevice...

I/C

[Shackman]

It's not the first time someone has needed recovering from the top of a church/cathedral tower either. The Coltishall Wessex had to recover a lady who had had a heart attack from the top of Cromer church tower 3 Sep 1988.

[Wander00]

Despite all the banter, looks like a challenging task well executed, again. Well done all, RAF and civilain

[Tourist]

Crab

You could have gone down the:-

"Thanks Guys, we were just doing our job. It is more sensible to use us as we were already on call so briefed, auth'd and ready for the shout with some better medical equipment and training on board, better comms kit for the man on the wire plus better knowledge of the suitable medical facilities.
The Junglies would have had to get a crew together, brief and start an uncocked Seaking so despite the extra distance, it made sense to use a dedicated SAR asset since we were available."

That would have put you in the "not a tw@t" bracket.

Instead you went down the "big yourself up for hovering next to a cathedral"


"Wow, look at that cathedral really moving around out there!!"

"Yes, It makes it really tricky with all that daylight getting in the way!"

"Those junglies would never cope! They can only hover in the dark on NVG whilst fast roping to heaving bridge wings with no visual references! Thank god the RAF hero was here to save the day"

[[email protected]]

Tourist - you could have gone down the route of 'well done the crabs for a job well done' - instead you set off down your usual path

- I didn't say the junglies couldn't have done it so don't put words in my mouth but you seem to firmly believe that RN superiority exists in all areas whether you train for it or not - which one of us is the tw@t?