A man has been airlifted to hospital after he was injured in a fall while hiking on Mullaghmore in Co Clare this afternoon.
The alarm was raised at around 1.45pm when emergency services received a report that a person had suffered a fall in the Burren.
The National Ambulance Service and Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard were tasked to the scene. The Galway Mountain Rescue Team was also requested to respond to the incident but were stood down en route.
The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also scrambled.
The location where the accident occurred was about 1.2 kilometres from the road and inaccessible by any vehicle.
As a result, ambulance paramedics and Coast Guard personnel had to trek across challenging terrain carrying essential equipment to reach the casualty who was being cared for by friends.
Rescue 115’s winchman/paramedic was lowered to the scene. The man treated and stabilised and placed in a stretcher before being winched on board the helicopter. The man was flown to University Hospital Galway where he is being treated for a head injury.
Earlier, emergency services were requested to respond to an incident at Spanish Point in West Clare.
The alarm was raised at around 9.30am after the Irish Coast Guard received a report of a swimmer in difficulty at the popular beach.
Coast Guard volunteers from Doolin responded to the scene along with National Ambulance Service paramedics. The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter was also tasked.
On arrival at the scene, Coast Guard personnel found that the man had been assisted from the water by two surfers who were close by at the time. Once it was established that the man had been brought ashore safely and did not require medical attention, the ambulance and Rescue 115 were both stood down.
