ClimberScramblerStructure

Today at 15:47 the team was contacted by the North West Ambulance Service for assistance with two casualties who had been climbing at Cadshaw Castle Rocks.

With the majority of the available team members involved in a search of Seven Acres Park (see Incident 35/2017), all were able to quickly respond to this incident.

A party of 3 climbers were climbing at Cadshaw castle rocks where one climber had fallen 15 feet onto their climbing partner below.

The team has gate keys for a number of the driveable tracks in our area and were able to drive closer to the incident site.

It transpired there was just one casualty, the female who had been at the bottom of the crag was hit by the fallen climber and pushed onto nearby rocks.

The North West Air Ambulance also attended this incident, and were on scene as the first Mountain Rescue LandRovers arrived. The decision was made to transfer the casualty by land ambulance.

The woman was placed on one of our SAR Alphin stretchers and carried over Cadshaw Brook to the waiting LandRovers for onward travel to the waiting NWAS Ambulance. The ambulance then transferred to Blackburn Hospital.

Fifteen full team members were involved in this callout. The 13 full team members involved in the search were joined by two team members who were not involved in the search.

All at Bolton Mountain Rescue would like to wish the woman a speedy recovery.

At 22:00 this evening the team were contacted by the North West Ambulance Service to assist in the evacuation of two casualties who had fallen approximately 10 metres into a steep sided gully.

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.

We understand that at circa 16.40hrs today Glossop MRT were called out to the report of an injured climber at Laddow Rocks in the Crowden area of the Peak District.

The support of a Sea King SAR Helicopter from ‘E’ Flight, 202 Squadron, RAF Leconfield was also requested, as was the assistance of Oldham MRT.

Oldham MRT at this time were deployed alongside other MRT assets in a search operation in the Oldham Edge area of Oldham.

Oldham MRT in turn responded, and also redeployed Holme Valley MRT and Bolton MRT resources from their search operation to this rescue at Laddow Rocks.

With the 15x attending Glossop MRT members accessing the casualty site from Crowden, OMRT, HVMRT and Bolton MRT vehicles accessed Laddow, by driving up the Chew Valley track, and parking up at the high moorland Chew Reservoir.

Our four members attending in BM3 arrived at this location at 17.13hrs, and with our Deputy Team Leader Chris Greenhalgh, remaining at the Control Point, at 17.42hrs, BMRT members Mark Scott, David Crawford and Chris Tennant, were deployed within ‘Section 3’ to walk across the moor from Chew Reservior to Laddow Rocks.

Here, the male climber in his mid 40s, from the Wakefield area, was being treated for multiple injuries after falling some distance.
He was winched in to the Sea King helicopter and flown directly to Sheffield Northern General Hospital.

By 19.00hrs our four were back at the Chew Reservoir RVP, and had returned to our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ by 20.18hrs.

Further details on this rescue incident can be found within the website and Facebook sites of Oldham MRT and Glossop MRT.

Today a climber got into difficulties at the moorland natural crag of Cadshaw Castle Rocks, at the head of Turton and Entwistle Reservoir.

It is our understanding that the 30 year old male climber from Preston, was making a top rope protected ‘solo’ ascent of a climb, with a mechanical device known as a ‘Ropeman’ in use to protect his ascent.

Whilst climbing he suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder, and fell on to the back up safety rope, jamming the Ropeman, leaving him in agony suspended from the rope.

His three companions including a young boy, were unable to help, when thankfully a nearby climber (From the Bolton area) offered his assistance, and abseiled to the stricken climber, and then we understand set up a rope system lowering the injured climber to the ground.

A call was made to the emergency services, received by Lancashire Constabulary who in turn contacted NWAS (Lancashire)

Initially NWAS then called Rossendale and Pendle MRT, with their Deputy Team Leader Andy Simpson passing the call immediately directly to Garry Rhodes MBE, our Team Leader, as the call was within the Bolton MRT operational area.

Receiving this call at 15.09hrs, Garry was fortuitously at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ with colleague team members Chris Greenhalgh and Matthew Hailwood, so an immediate response was able to be made with our BM3 Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance vehicle.

A full team Call Out page was made at 15.18hrs, whilst Garry liaised with NWAS Lancashire Control.

Our BM3 vehicle arrived at the A666 Road head RVP at the commencement of the forest track to Cadshaw at 15.32hrs, where the NWAS crew had left their vehicle to walk the fifteen minute distance to the crag, as the access gate is locked.

Fortunately all our vehicles have access gate keys, and BM3 with its three on board crew quickly accessed the Cadshaw track, parking at the foot of Cadshaw Main Quarry which is across the valley from Cadshaw Castle Rocks.

One of the NWAS crew had just met up with the fallen climber, who was being walked down from the crag, in considerable pain.

By 15.39hrs team members Matthew Hailwood and Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE, alongside NWAS begain treating the casualty, who though able to walk was suffering intense pain.

Entonox and then more ‘powerful’ analgesia was administered to the casualty, who was then walked through the foot deep water of Cadshaw Brook, assisted by team members, and helped in to our BM1 vehicle which had just arrived.

This quickly transported the injured climber along with one of the NWAS crew back to the A666 road head by 15.55hrs.

Here the casualty was transferred in to the NWAS Ambulance, with team members initially having to stop traffic on this normally very fast (And regular ‘Accident Spot’) road, for safety purposes.

The male climber was then taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

All our involved personnel left the scene by 16.05hrs.

We would particularly like to thank the climber from Bolton who had the knowledge and expertise to initial rescue this injured man from his predicament and lower him to the ground, great help from a climber to a fellow climber in distress.

The following resources were involved in this incident;

• NWAS (Lancashire) Broughton EOC Airdesk Despatcher.
• NWAS (Lancashire) Emergency Ambulance, two crew from Burnley Ambulance Station.
• Lancashire Constabulary, Force Control Room, Duty Force Incident Manager.
• Bolton Mountain Rescue Team; Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance vehicles BM3 and BM1 on scene, BM4 and BM2 both stood down responding. Thirteen team Call Out list members on scene, nine others stood down responding.

Finally many thanks for the patience of motorists held up on the busy A666 whilst the road was closed to enable the safe transfer of the casualty from our vehicle to the NWAs Emergency Ambulance.

(Webmaster; Yes our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE did get very wet feet, along with colleague team members Dave Cook, Matthew Hailwood and John Dickinson, wading Cadshaw Brook)