2008

At 23:21 Hrs this evening the Team was paged by NWAS (GMA) PEC regarding a 999 report of an injured male with a serious hip injury on a disused railway line, in the Tyldesley area.

Our Team Leader – benefiting from local knowledge, well he does live in Tyldesley – liaised with Ambulance control regarding the location of this injured person, resulting in a full Team Callout being paged at 23.31 Hrs.

Within a couple of minutes – it really was that close to our TL’s home address – our TL was on scene at Hough Lane, where the linear walkway of the former Tyldesley to Worsley railway line crosses under the main road to liaise with the responding ambulance crew from Atherton ambulance station and GMP assets that had also been called.

Together they tried to establish exactly were the injured man was on the disused line, along with two other informants who were also helping establish the mans position.

With a negative immediate result in this area and based on new information, the Ambulance, Police & our TL relocated to the open land and farm tracks in the Garrett Lane area of Astley. Again, the search was negative in this area.

By 23:44 Hrs a third location for this casualty was established which proved to be his actual location.

The 34 year old male involved had suffered a serious and very painful right hip displacement, following a simple trip – he had had a recent hip operation – and was lying on what we believe to be the route of a former railway line through a housing estate in the Ely Drive, Hen Fold Rd area of Astley, in the vicinity of Ellenor Brook. To further complicate his predicament the male involved also had an existing fractured right ankle – in plaster !

By this stage having established the man’s location the GMP officers involved left the scene in the hands of NWAS & Bolton MRT.

Team members supplied lighting to the area and in a joint operation with the 2 NWAS paramedics, the male was put on Entonox – pain killing gas – and then very carefully splinted using a full body vacuum mattress.

Safely placed on the Bell MR stretcher.

He was then stretcher evacuated using a Bell MR Stretcher the 300 M distance along the disused railway line to the waiting ambulance on Hen Fold Road

By 00:25 Hrs the casualty was placed into the NWAS ambulance for onward emergency transfer to Royal Bolton Hospital, with a Bolton MRT team member on board to assist the A&E Staff in the use of the vacuum mattress.

Getting ready to transfer to the NWAS ambulance.

In total 15 Team members were involved on scene, in unique and unusual night time urban rescue scenario, joint with NWAS and considerable guidance from NWAS Paramedic Emergency Control at Belle Vue.

The Team would like to express it’s thanks to the friend & family of the man involved, who offered much advice and guidance, which ultimately led to us locating and treating the man.

At 21:54 this evening Lancashire Constabulary paged the team concerning the recent reported sighting of an ’orange’ flare in the vicinity of Rivington Moor by a credible witness.

Initially the Police requested information as to what the flare represented, and it was determined that it was probably a ’red’ flare, which is generally accepted as a distress signal.

Given the duration of the sighting and having determined it was not a misinterpretation of the TV mast lights, the team in consultation with Lancashire Constabulary was placed on standby at our Ladybridge Hall base/HQ to repond accordingly if the search by the Lancashire Constabulary Air Support Unit helicopter determined that someone was indeed in distress.

It was decided to back up the airborne search by a limited number of team members in four wheel drive vehicles checking the high points and access tracks around Rivington Moor and Winter Hill itself for anything untoward.
This involved our Deputy Leader accessing the summit of Rivington Pike in his vehicle, and other team members driving to the summit area of Winter Hill, checking the moorland track of Georges Lane/Belmont Road, and a team vehicle carrying out a roadside check in the Belmont and Rivington areas.

Meanwhile the Lancashire Constabulary Air Support Unit helicopter conducted a very comprehensive search of the Rivington Moor, Noon Hill and Winter Hill areas, utilising its ’Nitesun’ powerfull searchlight and other aircraft sensors on board for over 35 minutes duration.

The Duty Police Inspector then attended Rivington to liaise directly with the team, with both our Team Leader and Deputy Leader having maintained contact with Lancashire Constabulary Southern Comms, throughout the search.
With our vehicle check and the Air Support Unit search having drawn a blank the search was called off at circa 23:50.

In total we had 11 team members in five vehicles deployed directly in this precautionary search, with a further 15 team members held on standby at our Ladybridge Hall base/HQ (only a few minutes from the search area).

Lancashire Constabulary deployed various Police Officers to the search and their Air Support Unit helicopter. This incident concluded with all MRT resources deployed returning to our two vehicle bases (Ladybridge Hall and Bolton Fire Station) by 00:25 on Monday 14th April.

This morning the team was contacted by NWAS (Greater Manchester Area) for assitance with gaining road access to a property where an elderly lady had collapsed, and the state of the access road to the property precluded an ambulance gaining close access.

The team was contacted at 09:35 hours in the morning and 7 team members responded to the address at Whelley, Wigan, meeting up with two responding NWAS (GMA) Emergency Ambulance crews.

Although both our Mountain Rescue Landrover Ambulances which responded could gain access to the property via a steep, muddy unmade track it was decided the best course of action was to stretcher evacuate the elderly lady concerned the short 50 metre distance to the waiting NWAS (GMA) ambulance.

This incident was concluded at 12:00 noon and yet again illustrates how we can offer specialist assitance to the ambulance service.

At circa 17:05 our Team Leader was contacted by NWAS (GMA) regards the team’s help with the evacuation of a young boy who had sustained a lower leg injury on the slopes of Wilton 1 Quarry, on the edge of the moorlands, north of Bolton.

The 13 year old had been playing with friends on the steep heather covered slopes overlooking the Wilton Arms, when he sustained a suspected serious lower leg fracture.

NWAS (GMA) Ambulance staff from the nearby Bolton North Ambulance Station had immobilised and splinted the boy’s leg injury, but required the team’s services to evacuate him from the steep slope and down to their Ambulance.

Team members prepare to load the young casualty onto a mountain rescue stretcher

16 Bolton MRT members responded, with our Deputy Leader Geoff Seddon arriving first on scene at 17:32, quickly followed by our responding team Landrover Ambulances (The casualty’s mother who had been informed of the accident also went up the hillside to be with her son and offer comfort).

The boy was placed in a Mountain Rescue Casualty Bag (a large weatherproof pile sleeping bag) for warmth and just after 18:00 the young teenager was safely evacuated on a mountain rescue stretcher to the Ambulance at the Wilton Arms, and then taken on to Royal Bolton Hospital.

The casualty is safety carried off the hill and to the waiting NWAS emergency ambulance

Throughout the evacuation from the hillside, the boy who was in considerable pain was given pain killing gas, and even managed the odd smile for us despite his pain.

All the team wishes the young teenager a speedy recovery back to full health.