A three-year-old boy has been airlifted to hospital after a wall collapsed during a shopping trip and he was caught underneath.
The toddler was with his parents at Frank’s Flooring Store in Darlington today when an MDF wall collapsed on to him.
Paramedics from the Great North Air Ambulance were called to the scene and the boy was seen being carried out of the shop on a stretcher.
The toddler is said to have suffered serious but not life threatening injuries to his pelvis, chest and abdomen.
A spokes person for the ambulance service said: “Great North Air Ambulance Service was called to assist North East Ambulance Service with a three-year-old patient who had been crushed under a wall.
“The child was treated on scene by the paramedic and doctor team before being flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough for further treatment.”
Pat Pygall, inspector for Durham Police, said that officers attended the scene and the child was conscious as he was being treated.
He added: “Our latest update is that his injuries are not life-threatening and the investigation has been passed on to health and safety inspectors.”
Frank’s Flooring have since released a statement thanking the emergency services for their response.
A company spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with the child and their family and our staff our shocked and concerned by this accident.
“We would also like to thank the emergency services for their speedy response.
“Our absolute main concern is with the well being of the child and, when the time is right, we will make the Health and Safety Executive fully-aware of the details of the accident.”
Interesting that they say “when the time is right, we will make the Health and Safety Executive fully-aware of the details of the accident.”. Surely this is RIDDOR reportable as accidents to members of the public or others who are not at work must be reported if they result in an injury and the person is taken directly from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment to that injury.
I completely agree Francis. Also although we don’t know full details this looks like a retail business and therefore isn’t enforced by HSE. Perhaps I’m being picky but people tend to revert to mentioning HSE when an accident happens. If local authority still did H&S inspections as frequently as they do food premise visits (like they used to) businesses would be more aware of their enforcing authority. Several businesses I’ve worked with haven’t known who that was.