Man rescued after being trapped in Coffs pub pool table

Coffs Harbour State Emergency Service members thought they had seen it all until they were called to assist paramedics at a local hotel.

A man who got his fist caught in a pub pool table pocket was the weirdest rescue in an unbelievably hectic season for the Coffs Harbour State Emergency Service.

The local unit has been going hell for leather for months - with members responding to floods on the Coffs Coast, Armidale, Forbes and the horror that was Lismore.

But at an informal thank you visit from federal member Pat Conaghan at the SES Park Avenue headquarters on Wednesday, the chat was all about a man whose night out ended sourly when he became entangled with a pool table.

SES member Brodie Cowling said paramedics had tried to free the man by applying lubricant to his arm - to no avail.

As the man’s arm started to swell, SES members made the decision to partially dismantle the pool table.

“We had to cut part of the table away but we got him out of it and the patient was happy,” Mr Cowling said.

Fellow Coffs Harbour SES member Kirsten Wallace reflected on her time at the floods which devastated the Northern Rivers.

Asked by Mr Conaghan whether reports that Lismore resembled a war zone were correct, Ms Wallace nodded, and reflected “it’s a strong community up there and they will rebuild”.

The Cowper MP - a former member of the emergency services with time spent as a police officer - said he struggled to grasp the tenacity and endurance of the Coffs Harbour SES over their extended call of duty to flood across the state.

“You have to change your lifestyle - you can’t go out on the drink,” Mr Conaghan said.

SES volunteer Keith Haycraft tries to secure a rope line to a roof at a house in Symons Avenue, Boambee. Picture: Chris Knight

Coffs SES deputy commander of operations, Ian Horncastle, said Covid had seen their volunteer ranks whittle from 100-plus to about 55.

But Mr Horncastle said the volunteers commitment had not wavered in serving the community.