HorseRiding

Aug 24 2014

Incident 78/2014 – assisting Bowland Pennine MRT at Wrightington

At 15:42 this afternoon the team was paged by the North West Ambulance Service (Air Desk) at Broughton, who were requesting our assistance at an incident involving an injured horse rider.

The call was answered by Deputy Team Leader Chris Greenhalgh who soon determined that the incident, in the vicinity of Charity Farm, Wrightington, lay within the primary operational area of our colleagues at Bowland Pennine MRT.

In consultation with the BPMRT Team Leader Kev Camplin, Chris and Kev determined that a joint Bowland MRT and limited Bolton MRT response would be made to this incident, in the knowledge that a number of Bolton MRT team vehicles were immediately crewed and available (present at community events today), along with other Bolton MRT team members at our Ladybridge Hall and Bolton Central Fire Station bases.

The incident concerned a female aged 20 who had apparently been thrown from her horse whilst riding, some distance away from the road and in a location where it was not possible for a road-going ambulance to reach. With concern for possible neck and back injuries sustained, responding NWAS crews requested Mountain Rescue assistance to carry the casualty across fields.

With the first responding Bolton MRT arriving on scene at 16:18, along with resources from Bowland Pennine MRT, the casualty was loaded onto a SAR Alpine Lite MR stretcher and was carried a short distance (approx. 280m) across the fields to the waiting NWAS Ambulance, resulting in the swift conclusion to the incident at 17:00.

We understand the following resources were involved in this incident

  • Bolton MRT
    • 4 Land Rover Mountain Rescue ambulance vehicles
    • 11 members on scene
    • One member stood down responding
  • Bowland Pennine MRT
    • 3 team members on scene, with others stood down responding
  • NWAS Lancashire
    • Broughton EOC Air Desk
    • One solo-crewed rapid response vehicle
    • One emergency ambulance (two crew members)

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Feb 16 2014

Incident 23/2014

During the response to Incident 22, we received a pager message at 11.02hrs alerting us to an incident near to Yarrow Reservoir “in Horwich,” involving an injured male horse rider.

Our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE Controlling and Co-ordinating the response to Incident 22 (See below report) was already in contact with NWAS Greater Manchester Control, who suggested the call was from NWAS (Lancashire) Control, which Garry then contacted.

Meanwhile a Team Land Rover with three crew on board, on hold at our GMFRS Bolton North Fire Station garage in case of additional resources being needed at Incident 22, was immediately redirected to start heading towards the Yarrow Reservoir area.

As this area borders the primary operational area of our colleagues at Bowland Pennine MRT, our Deputy Leader Geoff Seddon was in turn liaising with Garry to determine if the call was actually in BPMRTs area, and as such was going to contact BPMRT to respond, once Garry established the actual incident location, Geoff meanwhile also redirected to this incident.

NWAS (Lancashire) Broughton EOC Airdesk, detailed the incident to Garry, stating that the incident no longer required MRT assistance, and although the NWAA Helimed 75 had landed nearby the injured male horse rider had walked to the responding Emergency Ambulance parked at Alance Bridge at Yarrow Reservoir.

Here Team Call Out list member Paul Copley who had been walking nearby turned up and assisted with traffic duties at this narrow moorland valley road, where the Ambulance was parked up.

Via our radio system a full stand down was communicated at 11.10hrs, backed up by a confirming pager stand down at 11.17hrs.

The following resources were involved in this incident;

  • NWAS (Lancashire); EOC Broughton Airdesk, Emergency Ambulance and two crew from Chorley Ambulance Station.
  • NWAA; Helimed 75 from City Airport Manchester (Barton)
  • Bolton Mountain Rescue Team; One Team Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance with three crew on board stood down responding, our Deputy Team Leader and one other team member (Neil Aspinall) stood down responding, Team member Paul Copley on scene at the incident conclusion.

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Apr 26 2013

Incident 55/2013

At 16.42hrs this afternoon, we were paged by NWAS (Manchester) EOC Parkway to assist with a reported incident to a horse rider at Elton Reservoir, Bury.

Once our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE had liaised with NWAS (Manchester) EOC and gathered further information and an RVP was established, a full team pager call out was made at 16.55hrs.

By this stage an NWAS Response Vehicle and an NWAS Emergency Ambulance had arrived at the Elton Reservoir Sailing Club Car Park RVP.

At 16.58hrs a further update on the incident was given by NWAS EOC to our Team Leader, regarding the location of the casualty established by the NWAS Response Vehicle solo crew / Paramedic.

A female horse rider, from the Tonge Moor area of Bolton, whilst riding with friends on the north western shore of the reservoir had become unseated from her horse, suffering possible pelvis, mid back / spinal and cervical injuries.


Initial casualty care was already in progress when at 17.10hrs our first team member Bob Hutchinson, arrived on scene, very quickly followed by our first responding (Of two despatched) Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulances.

Our Deputy Team Leader Geoff Seddon arrived on scene at 17.16hrs, with equipment despatched at 17.25hrs as more team members arrived.


The casualty was given pain relief drugs, splinted on a long board, and then placed on one of our specialist mountain rescue SAR Alpine Lite stretchers.

At this stage at circa 17.39hrs the NWAA Helimed 08 helicopter arrived overhead, landing at 17.42hrs immediately on the reservoir shoreline (The helicopter tail boom was over the water) near to the casualty site.


A short stretcher carry to the helicopter, by team members, then saw the helicopter lift off at 18.04hrs en route for Royal Blackburn Hospital.

With the walk back to our vehicles and the NWAS vehicles, all had left the RVP by 18.30hrs.

The following resources were involved in this incident, all working in total harmony;

  • NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Operations Centre ; Despatchers and Manager.
  • NWAS (Manchester) Response Vehicle ; Solo crew member / Paramedic, from Bury Ambulance Station.
  • NWAS (Lancashire) Emergency Ambulance; Two crew members, from Burnley Ambulance Station (This vehicle had actually been despatched earlier from its station to the Ambulance ‘holding point’ for a major RTC involving multiple casualties on the M62 in Yorkshire, and thence to this incident)
  • North West Air Ambulance, Helimed 08 (Blackpol Airport) Pilot, Doctor and Paramedic crew members.
  • Bolton Mountain Rescue Team; Two Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulances, ‘BM1’ and ‘BM3,’ sixteen team call out list members on scene and four more members stood down responding.

The team would like to extend its thanks to a local landowner on the north eastern side of Elton Reservoir, who kindly allowed access to the vehicles of our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE and team member Gyles Denn, via a private locked access track, after their SatNavs had directed then via this access point to the incident RVP.

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Jun 25 2012

Incident 44/2012

At 21.17hrs this evening, we were paged by NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Control Centre, to assist an on scene NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Ambulance crew (From Sale Ambulance Station) with the report of an injured horse rider, who had been thrown from her horse, whilst riding on Carrington Moss in the Sale area of Greater Manchester.

Following a full team pager call out message at 21.25hrs, three of our Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance vehicles responded with seven team members on board, whilst a large number of team members responded directly.

Due to the large number of tracks, farm tracks and lanes in the area, our responding personnel had some difficulty in establishing where the actual casualty site was, as did apparently the responding NWAS crew.

At 22.06hrs we were informed by NWAS (Manchester) ECC that the NWAS crew had now located the injured 38 year old female rider, and was assisting her to their Ambulance.

Most team members were stood down, with our BM1 and BM3 Land Rovers remaining on scene, should the NWAS Ambulance get stuck on the soft ground of some of the tracks and require assistance.

With the injured horse rider en route to Wythenshawe Hospital by 22.30hrs, our remaining team members in BM1 and BM3 journeyed late in the evening back to our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ, where a full wash down was needed of our vehicles to remove mud from the undersides and wheels (Ah the joys of farm tracks!) before their crews got to bed sometime after midnight.

A big thanks to NWAS (Manchester) ECC for their detailed instructions to our responding vehicles to the initial vehicle RVP.

In total twenty seven team Call Out list members were stood down on scene or responding to this incident.

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Jun 2 2012

Incident 37/2012

The team were contacted today by NWAS (Greater Manchester) Control Room at 12:22 hrs. to request assistance with an incident in Horwich. A full team call out page was sent to the team at 12:27 hrs. and on arrival at the incident site, Rivington Pike, they were approached by former team member and United Utilities Ranger Andy Ryding to be informed that a female rider had fallen/been thrown from her horse and sustained multiple injuries including suspected fractures. Helimed 72 had arrived on scene minutes before the team vehicles had arrived, having been diverted from another call, and paramedics from Helimed 72 had arrived at the casualty site and started to administer care.



The team were requested to assist with evacuation from the path below Rivington Pike on the Helimed 72 stretcher and 15x team members assisted on scene with the evacuation and safety cordoning of the Helicopter once the casualty was on board.



Helimed 72 departed the scene with casualty on board at 13:04 hrs. and all team members were departing scene by 13:15 hrs.

The following resources were known to be involved on this incident:

  • North West Air Ambulance Helimed 72 (City Airport Manchester)
  • United Utilities Ranger Andy Ryding
  • Bolton MRT two Land Rover Ambulances, 15 members on scene and two members stood down responding
  • NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Control Centre

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