Caravan crash biker taken to hospital in back of fire engine

A SERIOUSLY injured motorcyclist had to be taken to hospital in the back of a fire engine because no ambulances were available to move him.

The 47-year-old Hull biker was trapped under a caravan after a crash between Brandesburton and Leven.

Suffering from multiple injuries, he was freed by emergency services and airlifted to Hull.

But no ambulance was waiting to carry him from the landing site to Hull Royal Infirmary – so a fire engine was forced to provide the service.

The union representing paramedics said it was an example of the ambulance service "failing because it won't listen to those of us who work on the frontline".

The motorcyclist was injured when his red Honda CBR was in a crash with a blue Honda CRV estate car towing a caravan outside the Blue Rose Caravan Park.

He was freed by firefighters and loaded on to an air ambulance to get him to Hull Royal Infirmary as quickly as possible.

According to Terry Cunliffe, of Unite, an ambulance was called from Beverley to pick him up at the landing site.

But the helicopter was already on the ground before the ambulance reached the edge of the city.

Paramedics travelling with the injured man took the decision to put him in a fire engine so he could get immediate hospital care, even though it was not equipped to transport patients.

Mr Cunliffe, regional officer for public services union Unite, said: "I'm very glad this patient had the constant care of two very skilled paramedics who came with him in the air ambulance.

"However, I'm sure they hoped for and expected a fully kitted-out ambulance to be waiting for them.

"To take the decision to transport this patient in a fire engine must have been a disappointment to them as members of the ambulance service and someone needs to account for it."

The engine was at the scene as part of normal emergency services cover for helicopter landings, in case of a crash.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is one of the last brigades to provide it and the procedure is due to end on Monday, July 29.

Mr Cunliffe said: "I dread to think what the consequences for that patient might have been had emergency services not been there.

"The Yorkshire Ambulance Service won't listen to our trade union about legitimate concerns about patients.

"Stories like this are examples of where this service is failing."

The crash happened in Starcarr Lane on Saturday.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: "We responded to a road traffic collision on Starcarr Lane in Brandesburton, involving a motorcycle and a car and caravan.

"A rapid response vehicle and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance attended the scene and clinicians provided assessment and treatment to an adult male, who had sustained a serious leg injury, before he was airlifted to hospital for further care.

"Under the supervision of our paramedics, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service assisted with the transportation of the patient the short distance between the air ambulance landing site and Hull Royal Infirmary."