David Curran/Satellite News Service/CWN (used with permission)
BARNSTABLE – The Barnstable Fire Department was dispatched, at 5:14 PM Sunday evening, to a report of a leg injury to a boater in Barnstable Harbor. Barnstable Fire Department responded in M-219; their 25-foot SAFE boat and with an ambulance. Initial reports were that the boat was headed into Blish Point with the patient, however the boat was experiencing engine trouble and unable to make it back to the harbor.
A boat from the Barnstable Harbor Master’s Office and Barnstable M-219 met with the patient and brought the 31-year-old male on board M-219 near the entrance to the Barnstable Harbor Bell Bouy. The patient was experiencing life threatening injuries to his leg from an incident involving the prop from a running outboard engine. A medical helicopter was requested to take the patient to a trauma facility.
M-219 treated the patient on the way back to Blish Point boat ramp, where the waiting Barnstable ambulance took the patient to meet a medical helicopter. Because of the expected travel time of the helicopter to fly to the Barnstable Municipal Airport, the Barnstable ambulance met the Lifestar helicopter at the helipad outside Beth Israel Hospital in Plymouth. The patient was transported to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center.
The Barnstable Police assisted at the scene, and the incident is under investigation by the Massachusetts Environmental Police.
The Barnstable Fire Department would like to reinforce the importance of wearing a personal floatation device when using watercraft, as well as the importance of training in bleeding control and tourniquet use. Visit Stopthebleed.org to find a local training class.
