• PHOTO: Coonamble paramedics and Fire and Rescue crew worked together to get a Coonamble resident safely out of her home and into hospital. (This is a 2020 news story)
On Thursday 30 October, Coonamble Fire and Rescue and local paramedics carried out a rescue of a local woman from a house in Sydney Street.
92-year-old Norma Shaw has been bedridden for a couple of years, unable to leave her home for the last 16 months.
She became stuck inside her two-storey house and was unable to get down from the top storey due to her mobility issues.
“I had a fall, we knew I couldn’t get back into bed so I had to do something about it,” Mrs Shaw said.
“I’ve got an elevator in the house but it’s broken down.”
Her daughter Bronwyn called triple-zero on the morning of Wednesday 29 October to report that her mother would need assistance in getting down from the second storey.
“The ambos were there [on Wednesday] and they found they needed a special piece of equipment because I’m big and because I’ve got stairs,” said Mrs Shaw.
“So they had to wait on a part from Wellington which ran late.”
Coonamble paramedics and Fire and Rescue formulated the plan to get Mrs Shaw down safely.
The rescue began around 3:45pm on Thursday, and ended roughly two hours later.
“We had to utilise a scissor lift to get her down, as well as specialised gear that the ambulance had brought in from Wellington,” said Coonamble Fire and Rescue Captain Andrew Morley.
“There were six crew members from Fire and Rescue and 2 paramedics; we had two fire trucks and paramedics had two ambulances.”
The team had to saw part of the front balcony off to get Mrs Shaw out.
“They had this cherry picker and a gurney on it and they had to get that through the decapitated fence, get me onto it with a great lot of difficulty, and then they had to get me up over the balcony and down,” said Mrs Shaw.
“Any time they hit a bump of any kind, they kept saying sorry and I said, don’t be sorry – nobody’s hurt me, I’m just plain embarrassed.”
Mrs Shaw had nothing but positive things to say about everyone involved in getting her safely to Coonamble Hospital.
“They were just absolutely marvellous, I couldn’t speak more highly of them,” Mrs Shaw said.
“Kate [Phippard, paramedic] was the boss, she was the captain of the team, and Andrew Morley was also wonderful.”
She had equally glowing compliments for the staff at Coonamble Hospital who have been looking after her since her arrival on Thursday evening.
“The nurses are beautiful people, they’re lovely,” she said.
“And I’m probably the first person that’s ever looked forward to residential care – I’m really looking forward to going there when we get me sorted out here.”