A doctor has told of the dramatic moment he had to amputate a man’s crushed arm 100ft above the ground.

Dr James Hickman, 45, carried out the emergency operation after a 56-year-old man’s left arm became trapped in machinery at a feed mill in Langport last week.

Seventeen firefighters and 14 medical staff attempted to free the man who was perched on a narrow gantry 100ft in the air.

After an hour of attempting to dismantle the machinery, it was decided Dr Hickman would amputate the man’s arm.

Remarkably, the day of the incident was Dr Hickman’s day off and he attended the scene as a volunteer.

He said: “His arm was trapped in a machine with a large screw that transferred grain or feed to one place or another.

“My role was initially to give him some strong sedation and pain relief to make him more comfortable.

“The fire and rescue service tried to extract his arm from the machinery but, over time, it became clear that it wasn’t going to be feasible within a reasonable time scale.

“His arm was very badly damaged and the only way of freeing him was amputation.

“It was a long way up on a gantry.

“The hospital provided a trauma team but there would be no real way for them to do it as I am experienced in operating in these difficult environments.

“It was challenging because it was a very narrow space and involved working at a height, which presents a range of dangers so I needed to be careful.

“I’ve done a lot of training in pre-hospital medicine but it was one of the most challenging experiences medically because of the environment.

“The amputation was a simplified procedure to that normally carried out in hospital.

“It was aimed to free the patient and preserve as much as possible that the circumstances would allow so that he could go straight into surgery for further procedures and retain as much functionality in his arm as possible.”

The horror accident happened just after 8am at the Lloyd’s Animal Feeds site at Westover Trading Estate last Monday.

Dr Hickman is a member of Somerset Accident Voluntary Emergency Service (SAVES), a network of doctors specially-trained to deal with emergencies outside of the hospital at the request of the ambulance service.

Most of the volunteers’ work involves helping car crash casualties, especially those who are trapped and seriously injured.

The doctors are available on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and perform the role in addition to their day jobs which are predominantly in general practice or accident and emergency.

The charity is the Somerset scheme of the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS), a national network of volunteers.

Dr Hickman, who lives in Stoke St Gregory, has been a member of SAVES for 13 years and is a GP at North Curry Health Centre.

He said: “One of the things that was key to the success of this incident was the air ambulance, the ambulance personnel, the fire and rescue service and myself all liaising and working together.

“The trauma team headed back to the hospital and were ready to receive the patient by air ambulance at Musgrove Park, already knowing the situation.

“SAVES doesn’t have a very big profile and people generally do not realise there are these doctors who work on a volunteer basis to attend emergencies.”

Dr Hickman hit national headlines last year as he was the first doctor on the scene of the catastrophic M5 crash in November where he was the medical commander.

Martyn Callow, of South Western Ambulance Service, said the work of voluntary agencies such as SAVES and BASICS was priceless.

He said: “James for example has a skill set above a paramedic and has his own personal protective clothing which means he can get to work straightaway.

“We dispatch the volunteers, provide training and equip their cars with sirens.

“They can play vital roles in emergencies and in this instance James anaesthetised the patient and carried out the amputation.”

The injured man, who was a worker at the site, is now recovering at home.

The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed it is investigating the incident.