Sunday 15 October 2006, 11am.

 

While visiting Tynemouth Surf Co, off duty NSVL lifeguard Chris Elliot was alerted to an incident on the beach.  A teenage male came into the surf shop asking for assistance because his friend was unconscious on the beach.

Running down onto the beach, Chris found the casualty (male 16) semi-conscious with a surgical nurse.   Taking control of the situation, Chris assessed and monitored the casualty, who had fallen off his surf board and torn his big toenail from its bed.  An ambulance had already been called, so the casualty was covered with blankets and his legs were elevated using surf boards and sheltered from the wind , using a hire-board to shelter him from the wind. Without any first aid equipment and the ambulance on its way, the wound was left while the casualty was fully assessed and monitored.

 

On arrival, the ambulance cleaned the wound and assisted removing the casualty from the beach.  However, the casualty's father was now there and agreed to take his son to hospital to free up the ambulance.