FAST FIRST AID -

In the early days at the port of Bunbury, the long jetty was busy and quite congested.

One major concern was quickly transporting injured workers through the congestion to the local hospital. It wasn't possible to drive an ambulance along the jetty so a plan was worked out and all that was needed was the opportunity to test it.

Not long after the plan had been agreed, a Dutch ship with a Chinese crew called in to the port.

It turned out that one of the Chinese crew was ill and needed to be taken to the local hospital as quickly as possible.

The plan swung in to motion. A small steam locomotive with a specially designed flat floor for a stretcher was sent along the jetty to collect the sick crewman.

The emergency crew collected the Chinese seaman from the top of the gangway and took him to the railway station where he was loaded on to an ambulance and rushed to the hospital where he was put in a bed to await the arrival of a doctor.

The whole operation had taken just 36 minutes and everyone involved was very pleased with the result.

As people were congratulating each other on the success of the new emergency plan, a phone call came through from the ship asking why nobody had arrived to collect the sick seaman.

It turned out the the man collected had been on watch duty at the top of the gangplank and due to his lack of English language skills, he had been whisked away to hospital instead of the sick man.

We can only wonder what the man thought about the whole situation.

From the book 'Full Steam Ahead' by John Willinge

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