RACQ CQ Rescue helps save third shark-attack victim

RACQ CQ Rescue in Australia assisted with the rescue of a man who had been mauled by a shark in Cid Bay – the third person to be attacked in the area in two months.

The middle-aged man was believed to be a tourist, and was bitten on his left inner thigh, right calf and left wrist after swimming in the bay on 5 November.

The crew attended the scene on Whitsunday Island around dusk. The attending crew described the rescue as a ‘complex retrieval scenario’ due to the fading light and the fact the patient was unable to be winched. The helicopter crew decided the most efficient way to offload the medical team was for them to perform a hover dismount on the sand on the north-west side of Whitsunday Island.

The man had to be resuscitated twice before being transferred back to mainland shore. He was then loaded into a waiting helicopter and taken to Mackay Base Hospital arriving in a critical condition.