Teen airlifted to hospital with head injuries after boating accident off Cork

The alarm was raised around 11.25am today when the boy, 14, was injured while on board a sailing boat off Schull, in West Cork.

It is understood that a boom may have swung across the deck of the boat and struck the boy in the head.

A National Ambulance Service ambulance rushed to the scene where an advanced paramedic treated the boy on shore.

However, the boy's condition deteriorated and medics were so concerned that a decision was made to airlift him to hospital as quickly as possible.

Valentia Coast Guard, which coordinated the operation, said the Shannon-based Rescue 115 helicopter, which is closer, was already tasked on a medevac on Inis Mór, the Aran Islands, so Waterford-based Rescue 117 was tasked.

Coast guard helo landing #Cork https://t.co/jdj1z7U01o

— Eoin English (@EoinBearla) June 24, 2017

The casualty was transported from Schull by ambulance to Skibbereen where members of the Toe Head coast guard unit prepared a landing zone for the helicopter at the town's rugby pitch.

It landed on site just after 12.20pm.

Meanwhile in Cork, because Cork University Hospital (CUH) doesn't have a dedicated helipad, members of Crosshaven coast guard unit prepared a landing zone at Bishopstown GAA club.

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The helicopter landed on site there at 12.47pm from where the teenager was transported by ambulance to CUH, arriving just before 1pm.

His condition had improved at that stage.