A BUILDER was rescued from the roof of a first aid charity's Suffolk office after being taken ill today.

A BUILDER was rescued from the roof of a first aid charity's Suffolk office after taking ill today.

Crew members from St John Ambulance Suffolk today came to the rescue of the man, who was working at the charity's county office in Duckamere, Bramford.

The man, who is in his forties, was taken ill while on the roof at Priory House at around 12pm.

His colleagues called for assistance and he was instantly attended by two crew members from St John Ambulance who were on site.

Having assessed the man's condition, the St John Ambulance crew immediately called for back-up from the East of England NHS Trust Ambulance Service, which attended with one crew member and a paramedic officer.

Due to the location of the patient and icy conditions the team also called for the assistance of the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service. The patient was then safely removed from the roof by a turntable ladder.

He was transported to Ipswich Hospital by the ambulance service where his condition is reported to be non-life threatening.

Jason Gillingham, volunteer and county ambulance officer for St John Ambulance, was called to the scene in his role as clinical field operations manager for the East of England Ambulance Service.

He commented: “The St John Ambulance team were literally on the spot and able to spring into immediate action to help this man.

“It soon became clear that we couldn't safely remove the patient which was when we called on our colleagues from the fire service to help lift him down.

“We don't often have casualties at our county office. Fortunately the team here are more than able to deal with such emergencies as and when they arise.

“It does, however, highlight just how important it is for businesses to have trained first aiders on site to deal with incidents that may occur in the workplace.”