Tug worker evacuated
A worker on board the tug in charge of dredging the Ettalong channel had to be evacuated after experiencing severe chest pains on December 12.
Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol publicity officer Mr Ron Cole said the duty radio operator at its Point Clare base received a call from Waterways seeking assistance to transport paramedics from Ettalong wharf to the tug at Little Box Head around 1.30pm.
"Skipper Terry Reynolds and his crew, Brent Malcolm and Gordon Ellis, collected the paramedics on Brisbane Water Lifeboat and transported them to the tug," Mr Cole said.
"Once on board the tug, paramedics decided that the man should be evacuated by helicopter.
"The helicopter pilot could not land on the dredge, so landed a doctor and another paramedic on Lobster Beach.
"From there they were transported to the Betts Bay by a Waterways rigid hull Inflatable boat.
"Once the man was stabilised, it was decided that the best evacuation plan was for the Coastal Patrol rescue vessel to transport the man on a stretcher back to the ambulance at Ettalong.
"The man was carried ashore about 3.30pm, and then was taken to Gosford Hospital.
"It was later discovered that the worker involved passed kidney stones overnight and returned to work not long after."
Press release, 12 Dec 2009
Ron Cole, Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol