Mud Rescue on Weston-super-Mare Seafront

Four people

– including two children – have been taken to hospital with hypothermia after

getting stuck in the mud for over two hours while walking along the beach at Weston-super-Mare.

Great Western

Ambulance Service (GWAS) received a 999 called shortly after 4.30pm this

afternoon after a passerby phoned the Coastguard.

A GWAS

ambulance crew were on scene at Royal Parade near the Royal Sands Hotel within

a few minutes, backed up by two additional ambulances, a paramedic in a

rapid-response vehicle and an officer.

The

patients – including three sisters believed to be aged 19, 12 and 10 – were

rescued by the Coastguard and Avon Fire & Rescue Service crews, who brought

them safely to shore where GWAS clinicians assessed them before transporting

them to Weston General Hospital. The fourth patient was the boyfriend of the eldest sister

Rob

Audain, GWAS officer on scene, said: “The coldest patient had a body

temperature of 32-degrees*. But all four were wrapped in blankets in the

ambulances and quickly transported to hospital for further checks; once they

have all warmed up they should be fine.

 

 

“It

appears they were out for a walk along the beach and didn’t realise how far out

they had gone. When they did, they were simply too exhausted to make their way

back which is when they become stuck.”

 

And with

thousands of holidaymakers in town for the summer holidays, Rob Audain appealed

for people to take extra care on the beach.

 

“We

would urge everyone to take care. There are clear signs warning people of the

dangers of going too far out when the tide is out – and they are there for a

reason,” he said.

“The

last thing people want is their summer holiday spoilt by having to be rescued

because they have got stuck.”

 

* Normal body temperature is 37.5-degrees. Hypothermia

is diagnosed at 35-degrees, while a person is likely to slip into a coma – and

possibly die – if their body temperature drops to 30-degrees.