An elderly tourist has been airlifted to hospital after she was injured in a fall in Co Clare this afternoon.
The woman in her 70s, believed to be from the United States, had been walking on rocks by the sea at Doolin Point when she lost her footing. It’s understood the woman fell and sustained a head injury.
The alarm was raised by Clare County Council staff working in the area at around 3.15pm. The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard and National Ambulance Service were alerted and tasked to the incident.
Coast Guard volunteers located the casualty at Doolin Point, about a kilometre from their station, and cared for her until ambulance paramedics arrived.
It was decided however that the woman should be airlifted to hospital and not transported to hospital by road.
The Athlone-based Emergency Aeromedical Service air ambulance was also requested to attend the incident. The helicopter, operated by the Irish Air Corps and National Ambulance Service, was just 10 minutes away on the ground at University Hospital Galway.
The injured woman was assessed and treated at the scene before she was airlifted to University Hospital Galway for treatment.
While University Hospital Galway is just 75kms from the scene, it would have taken an ambulance up to 90 minutes to reach there by road. The helicopter completed the same journey in less than 15 minutes.
