Distressed Poole man would have frozen to death (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Distressed Poole man would have frozen to death
7:00pm Friday 9th January 2009 in Search By Paula Roberts
A DISTRESSED man was airlifted from an area of heath land in Poole on Thursday night in what Dorset Police have described as a “major search”.
The operation involved the Dorset Police helicopter, more than 20 police officers and PCSOs and volunteer search teams from Dorset Search and Rescue and Dorset Search Dogs.
Police were called to Canford Heath in Poole just after 5pm following a call from the concerned family of a 52-year-old Poole man.
Officers spoke to local taxi firms and hospitals and house-to-house enquiries were made in the Culliford Crescent area of Canford Heath, a Dorset Police spokesman said.
Watch search dogs in training - click the link to the right
The man was found by the helicopter at 8.49pm on heathland off Westham Close and due to the difficult location, the helicopter landed on the heath and evacuated the man to Whitecliff recreation ground in Poole.
A spokesman said: “The man, who was very cold, was taken to Poole Hospital in a patrol car with an accompanying paramedic, “The man’s condition is serious, but he is responding to treatment.” Inspector Adrian King, of Bournemouth and Poole Police, said: “This was an excellent piece of co-operative work between Dorset police officers and the Dorset voluntary rescue service, which resulted in the man being found by the force helicopter.”
The Dorset Search Dog team involved Matt Cooke and his dog Charlie, supported by Andy Edwards.
Andy Edwards, the search dog teams medic, said “His medical condition was stable but deteriorating. He was cold and I doubt he would have survived. The wind chill would have killed most people. We made the decision, with paramedics, that his condition required him to be immediately airlifted from the area.”
Matt Cooke, chairman of Dorset Search Dogs, said: “This was a team effort, which involved the combined efforts of Dorset Search Dogs, Dorset Search and Rescue, police units and paramedics. It was an impressive sight to watch the helicopter land on a patch that couldn’t have been that much wider than your average family car.”
