After getting initial information by talking to the lost walkers, a “SARLock” attempt was made which sends a message to the phone which, when activated, will return the location of the phone to our mapping systems. This was unsuccessful. Alistair and Steve contacted Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary to ping the phones to discover which mast the phone was connected to.

A full team callout was made by our Deputy Leader Chris Greenhalgh, with 23 people responding to assist with this search. Additional assistance was requested from our neighbouring team Rossendale & Pendle Mountain Rescue Team, Search and Rescue Dogs from NSARDA and SARDA Wales and the Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service search dog and drone.

Team members were tasked to search paths on the Bolton side of Winter Hill.

At approximately 17:00 hours team member Dave Cook located the walkers on Coal Pit Lane safe and well, albeit cold and wet.

The two were taken to our Mountain Rescue base where they were provided with dry clothing, food and hot drinks.

In an emergency the correct procedure to mobilise Mountain Rescue is to call 999 and request Police or Ambulance. The police or ambulance control will mobilise Mountain Rescue as necessary.

The post Incident 111/2016 – Two Missing Girls on Winter Hill appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

The first team member on scene was Paul Copley who guided further members to the casualty, as further personnel arrived the decision was made to request the assistance of North West Air Ambulance to transfer the casualty to hospital. The air ambulance arrived but the due to the worsening weather the decision was taken to carry the casualty to the ambulance.

The NWAS ambulance and Mountain Rescue Land Rovers were located near the Bobs Smithy Pub on Walker Fold Road, due to the location of the casualty the vehicles relocated to Barrow Bridge, which involved a shorter carry to the ambulance.

In total 16 team members were involved in this incident.

The team would like to thank the golfers on the course today for assisting by directing the responding team members to the incident site, and for not playing the 13th hole whilst we were dealing with the casualty.

The post Incident 110/2016 – Golfer on Bolton Old Links Golf Course appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

A male had been walking on the moor and had sustained a very painful leg injury in a fairly remote location.

At 13:56 a small number of Bolton MRT team members and one team vehicle was requested to attend due to the likely need to carry the man some distance off the moor, as it was unlikely that an aircraft would be unable to assist due to the very low-lying cloud which had surrounded the moor.

A team vehicle departed our Ladybridge Hall base at 14:20 and arrived at Holcombe at 14:36; joining colleagues from Rossendale and Pendle MRT and the North West Ambulance Service on top of a very claggy and damp hill!

The two MRTs worked together to carry the male towards Peel Tower, where he was then loaded on board a RPMRT Ambulance and driven down the hill to the waiting NWAS ambulance.

The incidence was concluded at 15:30 – another excellent example of the close working relationship between all three organisations.

The post Incident 109/2016 – joint response to an injured male on Holcombe Moor appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

The post Incident 104/2016 NWAS assist due to severe weather appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

A 43 year old male mountain biker had been riding on the canal towpath with friends, near to the “Meccano Bridge” at Boscow Road, Little Lever. Apparently whilst riding he fell off the canal towpath, and into the canal basin below, which was drained and empty – a vertical drop of roughly 8 feet.

An NWAS RV senior paramedic was on scene, in the company of an NWAS operational manager from Bury, and our assistance was requested to extricate the male from the canal basin. The male had sustained at least a broken wrist; but due to the height of the vertical drop additional precautions were taken in respect of possible spinal injuries.

After initial treatment and pain relief administered by the NWAS staff, team members placed the casualty onto a vacuum mattress and then a SAR Alpine Lite stretcher, for evacuation out of the steep-sided canal basin. The casualty was then loaded on board our BM3 ambulance and was accompanied by the NWAS RV paramedic. He was then taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital for treatment for his injuries.

In total 18 team members and three team vehicles, one NWAS RV senior paramedic and one NWAS officer attended this incident, which was concluded at approximately 19:15.

The post Incident 98/2016 – male mountain biker fell into empty canal appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

A picture of the incident location – shortly before the three accidents occurred!

A second crew of three team members and another team vehicle were also quickly despatched from nearby White Coppice to assist the first crew, who also found themselves simultaneously dealing with two competitors with ankle injuries – all three incidents occurred at roughly the same location and at the same time!

Thankfully one of the two lesser-injured competitors had only sprained his ankle, and with the help of his running partner was able to continue on the race. The second runner with a slightly more severe ankle injury was treated and placed onto our BM1 ambulance whilst the attention of all seven team members was now focused on the collapsed male, who was unsteady on his feet and was found to be dehydrated and mildly hypothermic.

Due to concern over the male’s condition he was taken directly to the Royal Bolton Hospital in our BM4 ambulance, arriving at 12:12, where further treatment was given by hospital staff.

The post Incident 97/2016 – Rivington Half Marathon – one collapsed competitor and two runners with ankle injuries appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

A 51 year old female mountain biker had fallen from her mountain bike, sustaining a chest injury and was located some way from the nearest point that an ambulance could reach. The NWAS personnel on scene requested our assistance to help evacuate the patient from the woods.

A quick response to this incident was made, with our first responding team vehicle arriving at 19:25. The BMRT Ambulance was able to gain access through the gated tracks and the patient was then transported in our vehicle to the waiting NWAS ambulance at Rake Cottage, adjacent to the reservoirs.

A United Utilities employee was also despatched to assist with access to the plantation and we are grateful for their assistance at this incident. All resources were stood down at 19:55.

The post Incident 96/2016 – Mountain biker at Tockholes Plantations appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

The alarm was raised by a friend who was able to guide the responding ambulance crew to the casualties location.

Recognising additional help would be required, the Ambulance crew requested our assistance together with Lancashire Fire Service and the HART team. The NPAS police helicopter tried to provide scene lighting, but due to the tree cover, this was not successful.

The first mountain rescue personnel on scene was able to provide a grid reference for the site, and due to his local knowledge, was able to direct the responding mountain rescue and HART crews to the bottom of the gully to allow them to walk the length of the gully to the casualties. Due to the difficulties of walking in a slippery, uneven river bed, an alternate extraction plan was required, so a rope haul system was devised.

Bolton Mountain Rescue have adopted the Fire Services Rope Access procedures, so the system set up was familiar to all rope technicians, some of the rescuers had also recently attended the Lyon Rope Access course, so were well versed in the use of iDs.

Two casualties were stuck in the bottom of the gully, so two sets of kit were required, two stretchers, two vacuum mattresses, two casualty bags, two scoops, all the lighting available…

The first casualty was “walking wounded”, so once he had been hauled up from the base of the gully, he was able to walk assisted where he could be checked over in the warmth and dry of a waiting ambulance parked outside the Royal Public House in Tockholes.

The second casualty had suffered a fractured leg, so definitely required a stretcher carry! Once the casualty had been hauled out of the gully, a plethora of fire, ambulance and mountain rescue personnel assisted in the carry to the waiting ambulance, followed by several trips to collect equipment, both team and personal equipment.

The following resources were involved in this incident:

• North West Ambulance Service – at least two land ambulances and one RRV
• North West Ambulance HART Team
• Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service – Two appliances with crews
• Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service Rope Rescue Teams
• National Police Air Service Helicopter
• Lancashire Constabulary – At least two officers
• Bolton Mountain Rescue Team – 21 team members

Bolton Mountain Rescue Team left the scene at 02:00, returning to our base location unloading wet kit to start the drying out process ready for the next day, well, same day after the incident had concluded.

This incident demonstrated the close working between all the emergency services, all working to a common cause of helping people in need.

The post Incident 95/2016 – Difficult Extraction in Roddlesworth Woods appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

25 Bolton team members and 15 members from Cheshire Lowland Search & Rescue attended this search.

With all identified search areas checked, the team departed Clifton Country Park around 21:00.

Update:

The following morning, Saturday 24th September, a body was found in Buile Hill Park matching the description of Julie McClean. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Julie McClean.

The post Incident 94/2016 – Search of Clifton Country Park appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.

A young male had sustained suspected leg and pelvis injuries after being thrown off his bike on George’s Lane (a rough moorland track). The North West Ambulance Service sent an ambulance, rapid response vehicle and the North West Air Ambulance Charity to the scene; we were requested to assist with the evacuation.

The post Incident 92/2016 – off-road motorcyclist at Rivington Pike appeared first on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.