NORTH Coast paramedics, who live by the code of going anywhere, at any time, to help anyone, were this week put to the test.

As members of the New South Wales Ambulance Service’s Special Casualty Access Team (SCAT), they’re trained in bush and canyon rescues, white-water survival, navigation and caving.

They performed a challenging rescue of an injured bushwalker, who fell in rugged terrain in the Koreelah National Park, north-west of Woodenbong.

The emergency unfolded on Monday at 2.50pm when ambulance officers reached the injured Brisbane woman, 49, who had a dislocated shoulder.

Dense tree canopy and bad weather ruled out the chance of her being winched out of the steep canyon by helicopter.

So the call was made to Nambucca Heads SCAT specialists Brett George and Steve Fraser, who were flown to the scene in the middle of the night.

“We were taken to her location by two of her friends, who walked out and raised the alarm,” Mr George said.

“The patient fell around 11.30am that day and we reached her about 2am.

“In this type of situation, it’s very much a case of risk versus gain and so we decided against a rescue attempt at night.

“The patient was stabilised at the scene, offered pain relief and kept comfortable and warm, we knew her condition would allow us to wait until daybreak to get her out.

“When we determined we couldn’t do a winch, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter returned to Lismore.”

SES volunteers hiked into the area to help with the delicate rescue, which saw the woman placed on a stokes litter stretcher and pulled up the cliff face by ropes.

“It was a hard slog getting her out, that’s for sure, this is where the many hands of the SES came into great use.

“The ropes were attached to a hauling system and it took us three-and-a-half hours to lift her up.

“It was definitely one of the most challenging rescues I’ve been involved in, some sections of the canyon were in excess of 100m high.”

A farmer on a quad bike then took the woman to a waiting 4WD, ending her 24-hour ordeal.