Transatlantic call saves trekker

The man, who was among a group of students, fell ill on the mountain

A transatlantic call to British police helped save the life of a seriously ill student stranded thousands of miles away on a US mountain.

Luton Pc Bill Tuffs, 49, was forced to phone home to Bedfordshire's call handling centre when one of the group he was leading on a seven-day trek through the Cascade Mountains in the US collapsed.

The man, who started vomiting blood, was part of a group of 20 Cambridge University students taking part in an Officer Training Corps expedition in August.

The group was 35 miles from civilisation and unable to raise American emergency services on their satellite phone.

I don't think the operator could believe he was taking a call from the other side of the world. Pc Bill Tuffs

"We had four emergency numbers which we had tested before we set off, but when I tried to get through the line was dead," the policeman said.

"I tried for about 20 minutes and was running out of options.

"Then I thought of phoning Bedfordshire Police and I managed to get through straight away."

Mr Tuffs had to convince radio operator Nathan Searle he was not joking.

"I don't think the operator could believe he was taking a call from the other side of the world", he said.

Mr Searle then contacted fire and rescue services in Seattle, the nearest city at 120 miles away, which sent a helicopter.

The injured man was taken to hospital where he needed a transfusion of five pints of blood and is now making a good recovery.

Pc Tuffs, who has a military background and is a qualified expedition leader, is now back on duty in Luton.

His first task on his return to the UK was to pay a visit to the call centre to thank Mr Searle for his help and give him a bottle of whisky.

He said: "There was no doubt the student could have died

without getting the right medical assistance quickly."