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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Dan Haygarth

Coastguard helicopter spotted flying patient over River Mersey before Wirral landing

A coastguard helicopter was spotted flying over the River Mersey before landing in Wallasey on Sunday (April 10) afternoon.

The helicopter flew up and down the River Mersey and then landed in an industrial site near Seacombe Ferry Terminal before 3pm. A spokesperson for Liverpool Coastguard told the ECHO the helicopter was conducting a medical transfer from the Isle of Man to a hyperbaric unit on the Wirral. Officers from Merseyside Police were in attendance to clear the coastal path.

The helicopter was then seen taking off and heading towards Speke before flying down the Mersey once more in the direction of New Brighton.

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The condition of the casualty is not known at this time.

There is a hyperbaric facility at Murrayfield Hospital in Thingwall, Wirral. According to the unit's website, the therapy "involves breathing pure oxygen at higher than atmospheric pressures in an enclosed chamber. This process causes oxygen to be absorbed by all body fluids and by all body cells and tissues, even those with blocked or reduced blood flow.

The HM Coastguard helicopter taking off from Seacombe (Andrew Teebay / Liverpool Echo)

"This increased flow of oxygen may help to restore function to damaged cells and organs. Whilst in the chamber the patient breathes 100% oxygen delivered via a mask or an air hood."

The website states that hyperbaric therapy is the recommended first line treatment for several conditions, including air or gas embolism, decompression illness and gangrene.

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