Fire crews use aerial ladder to rescue heart attack victim

A PENSIONER who suffered a heart attack at home was carried through a bedroom window to waiting fire crews after her heart kept stopping every time paramedics tilted her to carry her downstairs.

Paramedics from Yorkshire Ambulance Service were on the scene within minutes after Joan Smith, 78, collapsed at her home in Pasture Road, Goole.

But when they tried to carry her downstairs, her heart stopped and they had to revive her again.

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After nearly an hour of efforts to carry Mrs Smith to a waiting ambulance, paramedics called in fire crews who used their aerial ladder platform to keep her horizontal before she was lowered to the ground.

She is now being treated in Castle Hill Hospital at Cottingham, near Hull.

David Williams, deputy director of operations at the ambulance service, said fire crews had enabled them to remove Mrs Smith for emergency treatment.

He added: “This is a great example of how all of the emergency service can work together using co-ordinated skills and expertise to help save lives within the local community and I would like to thank our staff, as well as our colleagues at Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, for a job well done.”