An Cosantóir

20 SEARCH AND RESCUE SEARCH AND RESCUE By Lorna Siggins Below is an excerpt from my book Search and Rescue. response as he and his co-pilot, Captain Eugene Mohan, prepared to land. They spotted a number of garda cars and units of the fire brigade, and someone had erected a post as a navigational guide for the aircraft. Flying with them, were advance paramedic Pat Moran and airman Jamie O'Sullivan, the latter providing technical support. Moran was out of the aircraft and over to the casualty as Byrne and Mohan kept the rotors running. Within minutes, the helicopter was airborne again, with Glyn on a stretcher in the back. There's little that Pat Moran, from County Roscommon, hasn't witnessed in over 20 years working as a paramedic. His father flew fixed-wing planes and he took out his own rotary helicopter license in 2007. When the opportunity came to transfer from ground ambulance duty to what was then a pilot Air Corps aeromedical service in June 2012, he jumped at the chance. On that particular day in Cappoquin, he recognised colleagues from the ambulance and fire services as he alighted from the helicopter. 'It was obvious this was a significant injury, and we were able to take him straight away by stretcher into the helicopter,' Moran said. Alan O'Connor wanted to travel with his son. Moran had developed a code with his pilots for situations where a relative might want to travel, but where the casualty's condition was critical. 'You never want to refuse, but the safety of the aircraft could be compromised if you find yourself handling both the casualty and the relative,' he explained. 'I would always advise that I had to check with the pilots on fuel levels. Alan was taken on board, sitting quietly by Glyn, as both Moran and O'Sullivan worked on his son. The pilots set a course for Cork University Hospital, landing twelve minutes later. 'We landed at a remote site to transfer Glyn by ambulance to hospital – a two-minute trip – and we knew he was deteriorating,' Moran said. A team of fifteen specialist medical staff awaited their arrival in the emergency department. 'We were just through the doors when Glyn went into cardiac arrest,' Moran said. The hospital team administered CPR, bringing him back, and Moran stayed with them Picking stones from the ground is never the most stimulating job, but it is a rite of passage for any teenager living on a farm. Glyn O'Connor (15) had done it many times before, chucking rock after rock into a loader attached to a tractor as it moved slowly across the land, extending down to the Blackwater river in County Waterford. The ground was soft and muddy after recent rain. Glyn was working with cousin Robbie, while an older brother, Cilian, waited in the car to bring him home. He was nearly finished the chore when he stumbled and fell. His father, Alan, was up at the house in Cappoquin when Robbie rang. Sensing the urgency in his voice, Alan reached the field within two to three minutes – as did Cilian. All Glyn's sister Celyn remembered, was hearing that the loader had 'rolled over' her brother's legs. Glyn was lying on the ground, coughing up blood, when Alan arrived. Cilian remembered how his younger brother tried to stand up immediately after the accident and how he urged him to lie down and keep still. When he learned the full extent of Glyn's injuries – ribs, pelvis, lower spine and femur crushed, lungs punctured – Cilian had no idea where his brother got his strength from, or how he was able to keep talking. Alan's brother Niall, who was attached to the local fire brigade unit in Cappoquin, was among the emergency responders first at the scene. Niall knew immediately that a helicopter was required and explained his status to the operator at the National Ambulance Service (NAS) emergency operations centre. Within minutes, an Agusta Westland 139 was airborne and flying south-east from the Air Corps Emergency Aeromedical Service (EAS) base in Athlone, County Westmeath. Captain (now Commandant) Stephen Byrne had a sense that this was an organised

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