By Tania Martin
HILLS emergency workers were last week called to rescue a man stuck in a tree.
The 42-year-old “tree fella” was trapped in the tree after it split.
Emerald SES volunteer Rob Tillman said his crew had not seen anything like it in almost 10 years.
“It was definitely an unusual one,” he said. “It’s not often you get called to a rescue up a tree.”
The ambulance service, SES crews from Pakenham and Emerald, and the CFA were called to the scene shortly after 11.15am on Monday last week.
Paramedics from Belgrave were called to an Upper Beaconsfield golf course to find the man hanging from the tree, six metres from the ground. He was still attached to his safety harness.
Paramedic Lisa McColl said a large branch had split, snapping the wire cable and the man’s harness, slamming him into the tree.
He was unable to get out of the fork of the tree and was trapped for more than two hours.
The man received a dislocated hip and had abdominal pain, with ambulance crews having to climb a ladder to attend to him.
He was given IV fluids and pain medication while emergency services workers set about freeing him from his perch.
A cherry picker was used to free the man, who was then taken by air ambulance to The Alfred hospital in a serious but stable condition.
