SEVEN MISSIONS MARKS HORROR WEEKEND FOR REGION'S RESCUERS
April 11, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEVEN MISSIONS MARKS HORROR WEEKEND FOR REGION’S RESCUERS
RACQ CQ Rescue has flown seven missions since Friday including a marathon three-hour search for a missing man in the Whitsundays yesterday and airlifting a critically injured motorbike rider to hospital on Saturday.
Yesterday at midday the Mackay-based rescue helicopter was tasked by Queensland Police to assist with the search for a 36-year-old man reported missing in Pioneer Bay.
Lee Eastham left the Pioneer Bay boat ramp around 4.30pm on Thursday, April 7, with a small black and white dog on board. He was reported missing Saturday afternoon after he failed to return from his trip.
RACQ CQ Rescue, with a Critical Care Paramedic on board, conducted an extensive aerial search of the area between Conway Point and Dingo Beach for about three hours for the missing man and his three-metre boat. Nothing was found.
At 3.15pm yesterday, the helicopter was tasked to divert to a serious medical emergency happening on board a tourist boat located near Haslewood Island with the notification that people on board were performing CPR on a woman. The helicopter immediately diverted from the search and proceeded to Chalkies Beach, about 96km north of Mackay.
A woman, believed to be in her 50s, had been walking on the beach when she began experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath. She was transferred by the tourist boat crew back to the vessel anchored just off the beach at low tide. The helicopter medical team, including a Critical Care Paramedic and rescue crewman, arrived overhead and were quickly offloaded on the beach as the aircraft blades continued to turn. They were collected by a small tender and transferred to the tourist boat where the crew were performing CPR on the woman. About 20 other tourists were believed on board at the time.
The rescue helicopter then flew direct to Hamilton Island to refuel and await further instructions. The RACQ CQ Rescue medical team were later transferred back to Coral Sea Marina on board the boat after the woman was unable to be revived.
Late Saturday, RACQ CQ Rescue was tasked by Queensland Health to airlift a teenager critically injured in a dirt bike accident on Sarina Beach.
The 17-year-old rider lost control of the bike on the beach about 5pm and suffered serious head and spinal injuries. It is believed the bike had been travelling about 80km/hr along the beach and the impact of the crash split the rider’s helmet. It is believed his cousin made the 000 call and police were first on scene.
The rescue helicopter landed on the beach to meet first responders and ambulance officers just 10 minutes after take off from Mackay Airport. The aircraft did not shutdown as the patient was loaded into the aircraft due to the incoming tide.
The helicopter quickly relocated to an oval adjacent to the beach so the medical team on board, including a Critical Care Paramedic and doctor, could continue to work on the patient for about 50 minutes before flying the teen to Mackay Base Hospital in a critical condition. It is believed the teenager has now been transferred to Brisbane.
Today, RACQ CQ Rescue has been tasked by Queensland Health to a hospital transfer from Proserpine as having completed a transfer of a patient from Moranbah late last night for a respiratory illness. Also over the weekend, a patient was transferred from the Whitsundays early Sunday after suffering a stroke as well as a patient from Bowen to Mackay Hospital on Friday with injuries after a serious fall.
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A teenager was airlifted by RACQ CQ Rescue with critical injuries after his dirt bike flipped on Sarina Beach on Saturday.
Please credit any released photos and video footage to RACQ CQ Rescue.
Please note: Full title of rescue service is RACQ CQ Rescue.
For further information please contact:
Naomi Noy
RACQ CQ Rescue
Ph: 0417 578 182