Dismal rescue operation leaves
Swiss dead in Channel Islands
Incompetence and 18th Century-style rescue service is to blame for the
death of a Swiss tourist on the Channel Islands.
The Swiss woman has died following a horse-drawn carriage crash on
the Island of Sark, six miles from the "main" island of the region, Guernsey.
Dora Jufer, 67, from Melchnau, was on an island tour with seven other Swiss
tourists and driver, who were all injured, when the carriage hit a hedge and
rolled over.
Cars are banned on the island, so a tractor pulling a makeshift ambulance took her to the port, where Guernsey's St John Ambulance and Rescue team took her on a 25-minute marine ambulance journey (!) to Guernsey. The accident happened at around 12.15pm on Tuesday, and she arrived at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey only at around 2pm. It would have taken a helicopter ten minutes to airlift the victim. She later died there after suffering head injuries that the hospital was not able to treat and requested assistance from Southampton.
All nine people involved in the crash were treated at the hospital, and four people injured in the accident are still being seen there. Malcolm Mechem, from Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue, said: "People were wounded with grazes, minor cuts, dislocations and fractures so it was quite bad. Unfortunately we were stretched beyond our means to assist expediently."
Guernsey Police and an accident investigator are assisting Sark constables with the investigation. Sark is the smallest of the Channel Islands and has a population of about 600, relying heavily on tourism. Tourist offices caution visitors to the island that they are mostly on their own when in troubles or emergencies.
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