Woman evacuated from Solent fort over breathing problems

Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service was paged by UK Coastguard at 0330 and a crew of seven – including two medics – went to Spitbank Fort to help.

Gafirs’ medics assessed the casualty and the patient was evacuated from the fort.

Senior coxswain Chris Rudd said: ‘The gangways and stairs on Spitbank Fort are very narrow so my crew had to work to evacuate the casualty to the lifeboat.

‘Once she was safely on board, we took her to Camber Dock where an ambulance crew and Portsmouth’s mobile coastguard team were waiting.’

Jake Robinson, one of Gafirs’ medical team, added: ‘Between myself and another ambulance medic onboard the lifeboat, we assessed the patient who had reported a prolonged episode of breathing difficulties with a reduced consciousness level.

‘We deemed it necessary to execute a medical evacuation from the fort. Using a team of six GAFIRS crew we extracted the patient and transported her on to further care.’

Gafirs crew returned to Gosport Lifeboat Station in Stokes Bay at 6am.