A man in his late 60s is lucky to be alive after his ute plunged 60 metres down a steep embankment near Skenes Creek on Sunday 1 March.
By Amy Boyd
The ute came to rest on the bank of a creek. Police, Ambulance Victoria and a specialist high-angle rescue team from Apollo Bay brigade were deployed because of the complexity of the rescue. Geelong City, Wye River and Gerangamete brigades also attended.
Captain David Howell, Colin Coleman, Damien Byrne, Andy Birley and William Chow from Apollo Bay brigade performed the high-angle rescue, which took nearly three hours to complete. Three members were lowered down the cliff with the stretcher. The driver was already out of the vehicle when the rescuers arrived, but because of his injuries he had to be stretchered back up the embankment. The two other brigade members created the nine-to-one pulley system which allows the stretcher to be pulled back up.
Apollo Bay brigade is currently trialling a battery-operated combi tool. This piece of rescue equipment is perfect for this type of incident but, fortunately, on this occasion the patient didn’t need to be extracted.
Author: Duncan Russell