Incident 109/2010

At just after 15.30hrs a 999 call was made concerning a 12 year old boy from Edgworth, who had injured himself in a sledging accident on the snow covered slopes above Wayoh Reservoir.

NWAS (Manchester) Control paged the team for assistance at 15.38hrs, co-incidentally our Team Leader and Training Officer had both arrived at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ just before the pager call, to carry out some team admin work, so were able to make an immediate response.

At 15.45hrs a fully detailed full team call out page was made, with all four Team Land Rover MR Ambulance vehicles responding.

Our first team member, Neil Warburton, arrived at the Harbour Lane, Edgworth, RVP at 16.08hrs, just minutes after the NWAS (Manchester) RRV and Emergency Ambulance had arrived.

Our first team vehicle, BM3, arrived on scene at 16.17hrs, and a small party of the first team members to arrive, first donned crampons, then with help from some other sledgers and locals, were directed to the incident location itself, where upon arrival they liaised with the RRV Paramedic.

Other sledgers and locals had done a fantastic job of keeping the injured boy warm and comforted, in the minus four temperature, dropping even more with the rapid onset of darkness.

The boy had collided with a timber fence at some speed according to witnesses, sustaining a suspected pelvis / top of femur injury.

Team members working with the RRV Paramedic, splinted the boys leg with a specialist MR vacuum splint and then carefully ’packaged’ the boy up in a full length vacuum mattress splint.

Throughout the boy who was in considerable pain, had the use of pain killing gas. (Entonox)

The injured boy (with his father now in attendance) was then placed on a Troll Alphin Mountain Rescue Stretcher and sledged uphill in the stretcher, commencing at 17.03hrs, to the awaiting NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Ambulance on Harbour Lane, Edgworth.

By 17.15hrs he was safely in the warmth of the ambulance where further examinations could take place of his injuries.

Around 17.30hrs the NWAS Ambulance departed with the boy for Royal Bolton Hospital.

In total fifteen Bolton MRT members attended this incident, in four Team Land Rover MR Ambulances, a further three team members were stood down deploying.

From NWAS (Manchester) came an RRV (Solo crewed) and an Emergency Ambulance.

Yet again we had excellent updates and guidance from our friends at NWAS (Manchester) Belle Vue Control.

Special mention must be made of the residents at the end of Harbour Lane, which even without snow is a narrow lane, for allowing us without hesitation to park our team vehicles and members vehicles across their driveways and in one case to park within their property, thanks also to the same residents for putting up with all our disturbance to their normally quiet late afternoon.

This is the teams third call to a sledging accident since the first one attended on Saturday evening December 18th 2010.