By Neil Pooran
A LIFEBOAT team was diverted was diverted from a training exercise to rush to the assistance of an injured 74-year-old man on the Fife coast yesterday (Wed).
The man had fallen 2.5 metres onto rocks from an old pier between East Wemyss and West Wemyss, and was already being treated by paramedics who needed help evacuating the man to hospital.
Kinghorn RNLI Lifeboat was diverted from an exercise at Fisherrow when Forth Coastguard tasked the volunteer crew.
Volunteer crewmember Steven Wallace said: “We arrived at the isolated location to find the ambulance service with the injured patient. It is understood the man had fallen about onto rocks just after 6pm.
“It took nearly an hour for him to summon help.
“The casualty was put onto a spinal stretcher, and then transferred onto the lifeboat with a paramedic. We then took the man onboard the lifeboat to West Wemyss harbour where we were able to get him ashore to an awaiting ambulance.
“The lifeboat was the easiest and quickest way to get the injured man to the ambulance, and then to hospital. It is understood that the casualty was suffering from serious leg injuries.”
Once the casualty was handed over to the ambulance service the lifeboat returned to station.
