999 crews free man trapped in machinery at Shropshire haulage firm
Emergency workers launched a major operation to free a man who had become trapped in machinery at a haulage firm in Shropshire.
The incident happened at Chris C Hazel Haulage and Shot Blasting Services on Station Road in Woofferton, near Ludlow, yesterday.
It took firecrews, paramedics and doctors nearly an hour to free the man from the industrial machinery during the delicate operation.
The man, believed to be in his 30s, suffered a serious hand and arm injury.
Staff at the firm confirmed the incident had taken place there at about 2.30pm but did not wish to comment further last night.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "When crews arrived they found a man, believed to be in his 30s, who was mechanically trapped by his arm in a piece of industrial machinery.
"The man was immediately given strong pain relief to help stabilise his condition before crews and the doctors worked with the fire service to carefully extricate him from the machinery.
"After a delicate operation taking around an hour, the man was released from the machinery.
"The man sustained a serious arm and hand injury and a nasty laceration to his leg.
"His wounds were cleaned and dressed and he was placed onto a scoop stretcher before being carried to the waiting air ambulance.
"The man was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, one of the region's specialist trauma centres, for further assessment and treatment."
A responder paramedic, an emergency doctor from Mercia Accident Rescue Service (MARS) and the Midlands Air Ambulances from Cosford and Strensham, one with a trauma doctor on board, attended the scene to treat the casualty.
Workers and residents living nearby on Station Road heard the sirens as emergency crews rushed to the scene yesterday afternoon. One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "I heard the fire engines and the helicopter in the sky."
A staff member at the Travelodge on Station Road, who also did not wish to be named, added: "I heard the air ambulance overhead."
Shot blasting is a process that is often used to clean the surface of a material.
The process usually involves a gun or a ride-on rolling blasting machine that is used to shoot various types of media, or shot, at the object being blasted. It is used for removing scale, rust, paint, and minor surface flaws from metal objects.
