Volunteer lifeboat crews have rescued a diver who was discovered face down in the water near Oban.
Stornoway Coastguard received a 999 call just before 3pm yesterday about someone who had been seriously injured on Maiden Island.
The Oban lifeboat crew was dispatched with two paramedics to the island, at the northern entrance to Oban Bay, and quickly located the man unconscious on some rocks.
Crew from a nearby fishing provided assistance while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
The casualty was not breathing when they came to the surface of the water while out free diving with four friends.
Two crew members used the lifeboat’s daughter craft to get close to the shore where they immediately put the injured man on oxygen.
Received treatment on lifeboat
The diver was then moved on to the lifeboat for treatment by the paramedics during a fast transfer back to shore where an ambulance was waiting.
The daughter craft remained at the scene and the crew returned once the casualty was en route to hospital to transport the remaining members of the group back to Oban.
Ally Cerexhe, Oban Lifeboat coxswain, said: “This was a multi-agency rescue, not just involving our colleagues from the Scottish Ambulance Service but also Coastguard teams on the shore and the Coastguard helicopter Rescue 199 from Prestwick.
“We’d particularly like to thank the crew of a local fishing boat who were helping on the scene when we arrived.”
An ambulance service spokesman added: “We received a call at 2.56pm on Monday to attend an incident in Oban. We dispatched one ambulance to the scene and transported one male patient to Lorn and Islands Hospital.”
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