A YOUNG woman suffering from suspected serious injuries had to be taken to hospital in the back of a fire engine because no ambulances were available.

And a spokesman for the Fire Brigades Union said firefighters had been warned that they may need to deal with casualties at some incidents themselves due to pressures on the ambulance service.

A woman in her 20s slipped on ice near Bradford Magistrates’ Court and firefighters were called to the scene, at the junction of Hall Ings and Channing Way, to assist police. After they arrived, they discovered the casualty had a suspected broken leg and hip. An off-duty nurse stopped to help but firefighters had to strap the casualty onto a board and take her to Bradford Royal Infirmary themselves because there was no ambulance en route.

David Williams, secretary of the Fire Brigades Union in West Yorkshire, said it was the sort of incident that should never happen.

He said: “Although firefighters are here to help save lives, in certain circumstances I’m not sure whether we are creating more problems than solving them.

“What if the casualty had gone into shock in the back of the appliance? There’s no drips or equipment like that to help her. We aren’t equipped.

“One of the criteria in the Operational Policy Information Document is to consider safe transport.

“I still don’t know how being strapped on to a long board and shoved into a fire engine is safe transport.

“We are constantly warned that ambulances are stretched. We need to consider that when we call for one, we might not get one, and will need to deal with casualties ourselves.”

He added that firefighters want to do the best they can to help everybody but said fire engines are “absolutely not” suitable for transporting casualties and asked what firefighters were supposed to do if hospitals had no room for new patients when they arrived.

Nearly 7,500 patients in Yorkshire faced waits of half an hour or more in ambulances outside accident and emergency departments this winter. Bradford was one of the worst hit areas, with 1,366 delays in the week between Christmas and New Year, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire Service said an ambulance was not available at the time of the incident on December 18 due to high demand.

Area Manager for Fire Safety Chris Kirby said: “During periods of high demand on ambulance resources the fire service is able to assist our blue light partners and in this instance we were able to make a considered judgement that the casualty could be safely transported to hospital in a fire engine.

“Our crews are trained in first aid and are skilled in casualty care and whilst this is a rare occurrence, we are on hand to support our ambulance partners where we have the capacity to do so and in order to help the people of West Yorkshire.

“In this instance the fire service was able to quickly and safely transport the casualty to hospital without tying up our fire engine and crew for a prolonged period.”

John McSorley, divisional commander of accident and emergency operations (West Yorkshire) at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “During periods of high demand it remains our priority to respond to patients reported to be in a life-threatening or very serious condition. On December 18 it was a particularly busy day for the ambulance service and as the patient’s injury was not categorised as life-threatening we had to prioritise other more poorly patients.

“We understand that the police contacted West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in regard to this incident who were able to assist. We work closely with our emergency service colleagues and are grateful for their support on this occasion.”