CALLOUT 22 – Call to assist injured walker

CALLOUT 22

Around 16:00 yesterday the team were called out to reports of a Walker who’d slipped and had a suspected broken ankle around the area of Knowl Hill on Scout Moor, near Edenfield.

The team mobilised Mob 3 and our Polaris buggy. We managed to negotiate some badly rutted moorland to get within 50ft of the casualty who was halfway down the side of Knowl Hill.

We assessed the injuries and splinted his lower right ankle. It was more practical at this point to use our Polaris and transfer the walker to the waiting land ambulance, however, this seemingly simple task proved to have some interesting challenges.

The moors have become horrendously devastated by illegal trials bikers ripping through the hillside creating vast areas of deeply rutted land. At daytime, it’s bad enough but in the pitch of night it proved nearly impossible to navigate but thanks to the specialist kit and thorough training (but some 4 hours later), the casualty was off the hill and safely going to the hospital for further treatment.

Sadly the rigours of the terrain ended up being too much for our Polaris that sustained a snapped drive belt which we now have to pay to repair ready for another job.

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