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Diary - January 2007

Monday 8th January 2007 19:30hrs – Casualty Care Training

It’s our first training session of the New Year and after a very quite Christmas period, it feels like I haven’t seen the other team members in ages. During busy periods it feels like you see more of the team than you do your family. However we have not done anything since our Carol Singing fundraiser back in early December. Perhaps it was something to do with our singing. There was a lot of catching up to do, on what everyone had been up to over the break.

We finally settled down to our evening’s training. Dr Ian was running a session on the drugs we carry in our Cas Care kits. We covered everything from Aspirin to Morphine and where they fit in on the analgesia ladder. He also explained which drugs are most effective against which type of pain. They all work in different ways and it can be confusing when you are faced with an array of different drugs.

Once the session had finished, we headed off to the pub to finish catching up on what everyone had been up to over the holidays.

Wednesday 17th January 2007 19:30hrs – Training

Tonight we have an unusual session on Helmets! We have a lot of off-road trails in our area, which are heavily used by off-road motorbikes and mountain bikers, who are now increasingly using full faced helmets. The session is based around how to safely remove a helmet so that the casualty can be assessed properly, without damaging their C-spine.

But before we got started with the main session, Geoff couldn’t resist sharing some advice from a Christmas present he had received: “Scouting for Boys”. Obviously having our collective best interests at heart, he gave us Baden-Powell’s best “turn of the century” advice on the dangers of male virility. A peculiarly confusing session for the late comers, who missed the introduction and assumed that this was something Geoff had written himself.

With the humour over, we moved on to the practical session. Using a collection of various types of protective headgear, we practiced the best methods of handling each other’s helmets.

Saturday 20th January 2007 18:00hrs – Night Exercise

Christmas is normally our busiest time of the year. However due to the mild weather we have had recently, we have not been called out since early December. So you can guarantee that as soon as the weather started to turn, we would be due our annual night searching exercise. It wouldn’t be the same if we weren’t trudging through knee deep mud, driving rain and mist in the dark.

Ken was organising tonight’s exercise, and even though it was to be initialled by callout, rumour had it that it was to start as soon as it went dark in order to get back at a sensible time. Possibly even in time for last orders! – yeah right.

So by six o’clock, an hour after it had gone dark, having still not heard anything, I was on the verge of phoning round to see if I had missed the call. Finally my phone jumped into life. “Exercise Callout. RV Hut – Geoff.” As I was half-packed anyway, I quickly made my way to the hut, only to find out that I had been beaten there by about twenty other people, who were even more “half-packed” than I was.

I signed on and waited to be deployed. The scenario was that Ken was a walker who had not returned from his planned route across Kinder to Edale. To add an intresting twist to the scenario, he was also reported to be deaf. This would mean that he would not be able to hear us if we were using our sound and light searching method. This is where we blow whistles and flash our search lights, to try and get the casualty to attract us to them.

I was put as party leader with Darren, Paul and Andy. We were given the job of searching the path up the front of Kinder Low to the Trig point. We drove up to Moorside in Paul’s Range Rover (for sale if you are interested, driven once off road – carefully) and headed off into the night. No sooner had we left the car, than the wind started to get up and the rain came in. By the time we had started up Kinder Low, it was howling. We made our way up the edge and on to the trig point. As we moved along the tops we could see the search lights of the other teams following their routes. Just as we reached the Trig point, we were called on the radio and told to make our way back to Mobile 1, Paul in the Landrover at Edale Cross. This usually means that another team has found the casualty and were are being redeployed to carry the heavy gear up to the Cas Site. When we arrived at the Landrover, Paul met us with a cheery “You’ll like this one lads. They need the Stretcher, Entonox, Splints and Cas Bag.”

We grabbed a quick brew and jumped in. The trip down the track was hairy as the track is getting rougher and rougher. As we were on our way, we heard a priority call on the radio. Things had been upgraded to a full callout as someone had a suspected broken ankle in Cluther Rocks. This is a know risk area, a boulder field semi covered with grass, which leaves hidden holes waiting for people to step into. This is what had happened tonight. Colin’s team were quickly on site and they requested pretty much the same kit as we were taking up to the exercise Cas site. We were told to meet up with another team to help us carry the gear to the Casualty. To make this quicker we headed round on Blue lights and then took the Landrover up a track to the bottom of Broad Clough, below where the Casulaty was. With all the recent rain the track started to get very boggy, so Paul decided drive up into the field above the track. The field slopped down towards the track and was far better going. However as we moved around the side of the hill the field got steeper and steeper. Every time Paul inched the vehicle forward it slipped further sideways. As we tried to bring it back on to the track, it was getting closer and closer to its’ rolling point. I started out in the front passenger seat, but by now I was almost on Paul’s knee. Darren decided this would be a good point to bail out and direct things from outside the vehicle, but as I was on the downhill side, if it rolled while I was getting out I would have had a two tonne Landrover on top of me. As we slid towards the track I noticed that there was a two foot drop before the track. If we hit this sideways, we would defiantly roll, and with the other Landrover in the body shop following its’ recent dent, our logistics would be severely damaged, not to mention my head! Darren put his freedom to good use and directed us towards a lower part of the drop off where we could get the back wheels into a rut to stop them sliding. Then in a scene reminiscent of “Trains, Planes and Automobiles”, Paul booted the Landrover and pointed the wheels downhill. The Landrover jerked forward from its’ 45 degree position, I dug my fingernails into the dashboard and I could have sworn I saw Paul dressed as the Devil, laughing at me! We shot forward, the front wheels bit and the next thing I knew we were pointing downhill and back on the track.

Disaster averted, we were back on to the issue at hand. Darren, as deputy leader, took over the roll of leader on the hill and divided us up into fast and slow response parties. I went with Darren in the fast response. We took the things the casualty would need immediately. Entononx for pain relief, Oxygen, Splints and a warn Casualty bag. The other team brought up the heavy gear, including the two halves of the stretcher. We headed up the hill as fast as we could, and soon reached the Cas site, where by now, three other teams were waiting.

Steve was carrying out medical care, in the Cas tent, with Pete assisting.

The casualty was in considerable pain, so Steve had administered Morphine. He had briefly passed out with the pain, giving Steve a major scare. Due to serious nature of this injury, we decided to request a helicopter evacuation, to get him to hospital ASAP. His leg was splinted with our Vacuum splint and he was made as comfortable as possible while waiting for the helicopter.

As I sat with the rest of the team on the side of the hill, I took the opportunity to grab a quick bite to eat. The other party with the stretcher soon arrived.

I was still relatively warm after racing up the side of the hill with the gear. The night was clear and we could see the lights of Manchester in the distance. Soon things started to cool down. The helicopter was about 30 minutes away. Then it started to snow. After 20 minutes I was starting to get properly cold. I was taking a few photos for the diary and every time I took my hand out of my glove I couldn’t feel my fingers. It wasn’t a night for photos anyway, as the snow was settling on my camera lens. We were asked to create a mobile runway pointing to the Cas site with our torches. So we lined out up the hill, to show the helicopter where to go.

Eventually the Sea King arrived. They lowered down their winch man to decide how they would handle the situation. As we were on the side of the hill, there was nowhere to land, so they winched down their stretcher, and then flew off to do a few circles while the casualty was loaded into the stretcher.

After what seemed like about twenty minutes, they came back in to winch the stretcher back up. It was a bizarre sight, sat directly underneath a twenty tonne helicopter, hovering meters from the cliff edge in strong winds and driving snow. The noise was deafening and the downdraft blasted us, making us extremely cold. The winch man gave Chrissie a high line to hold, to stop him spinning as he went up with the casualty. As he reached the helicopter door, he released the high line and they flew off into the night. Suddenly everything was silent.

If you want to see a video of the Sea King hovering over us, click here. There isn’t a great deal to see, as it was dark and wet, but it gives you some idea of what it was like.

We all made our way back down to the nearest road, where we were transported back to base. The wet gear was laid out to dry, and I eventually made it home about 2am. I threw my muddy gear into the washing machine and went to bed.

More Photos....

Sunday 21st January 2007 12:15hrs – Callout

I had agreed to take the family out shopping in Buxton. We were just in the middle of shopping when my phone rang. Callout. I knew it would take me quite a while to get back, so I sent a text back to say I was on my way, but it would take me about 40 minutes. When I got back home, I had to collect all of the items from my rucsac, which I had carefully laid out to dry on all the radiators around the house after the previous nights soaking. I then got my waterproofs out of the washer and had the unenviable job of getting in to a set of cold damp waterproofs. I made my way to the hut, but as I was running late, I didn’t have much involvement in this callout. This is the account of event from Geoff, our team leader:

“After last night's dramatic rescue I gave in and lay in bed until after 10:30 this morning. Chrissie and I decided a shopping trip, and lunch out, was in order. Setting off towards New Mills we were passed by a paramedic's car, on blue lights, travelling towards Hayfield. This was followed quickly by a phone call from the duty controller, alerting me to an urgent situation on Lantern Pike.

Evidently a walker, in his 70s, had collapsed and was unconscious. A hasty return to Hayfield soon saw me and three other team members being driven, on "blues and twos", to the casualty's location. There then followed a traumatic forty-five minutes or so as I, Dave, Vinny and Nigel, as well as the attending police officer, assisted with CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation), supervised by Gary, a very professional paramedic. Two more paramedics arrived by air ambulance and every method was employed to try to revive the gentleman but, after what seemed like a very long time, we came to the sad conclusion that no more could be done. The sense of sadness could be seen and felt as an air crew member consoled the rest of the walking party. As the scene began to clear, only the assembled team members were left in the quiet of the hillside, with the deceased gentleman, to ensure his careful transport down to a waiting vehicle at nearby Clough Mill. In some twenty six years of mountain rescue work, this was the first time I'd had cause to use my resuscitation skills ... and the result had been unsuccessful.

As we made our way back to our base I nursed silent thoughts that our fellow walker had been given the best possible chance, with diligent care from all those attending; friends, police, ambulance crew and ourselves. My thoughts are with friends in New Mill Ramblers and relatives.”

Sunday 21st January 2007 16:15hrs – Callout

After such a sad end to the previous callout, I was less than enthusiastic to find out that we had another callout in deteriorating conditions. I was asked to collect the Landrover, as Chrissie was unsure how long Hamish was going to be. As I was about to drive past the base, Hamish pulled in with the Landrover. I went to drive back up the hill, but it was already too snowy for my car, so I had to follow him in.

When I got into the hut, it was a scene of organised chaos. All the equipment we used the previous night was laid out drying and the rest of the team were trying to get around it to sign on and get their gear together. We really do need a bigger hut.

It turned out that two runners were missing from the day’s fell race. The race was an orienteering event across the Kinder plateau. So this meant that they could be anywhere on the plateau, in heavy snow, with minimal running kit. This scenario could not be any worse. Geoff quickly decided to bring in two other teams. As we were getting ourselves kitted up for a long night searching in the snow, Geoff came in to the main room to tell us that the two runners had finally showed up at control. We could stand down.

Sunday 21st January 2007 17:15hrs – Callout

Geoff was just in the middle of a quick debrief from the last callout, when a fell runner came in to the hut saying that he had seen a group of under equipped teenagers going up on to Kinder in the snow. He tried to get them to turn round, but they went on anyway. As the conditions were so bad we decided to go and cover their route to make sure they got down OK. Geoff said that he understood that we had been out until late the previous night and been out on another callout that morning, so were there any volunteers to check that they had not got stuck. Every hand in the room went up. He sorted out to teams to cover both ends of the route they were following and the rest of us made ourselves comfortable, as we waited for the two teams to report back.

After about an hour and a half, a very snowy Landrover arrived back with both teams on board. They had covered the route without finding anything. As there were no other reports of anyone missing, we closed the incident down and made our way home. This was not as easy as it sounds, as every road had a thick covering of snow and I had to have push to get out of the car park. As things stand, I am still waiting to find out if Charlie got his van out of Hayfield, or if he had to spend the night there.

More Photos....

Friday 26th January 2007 20:00hrs – Team Meeting

It feels like ages since we had a team meeting. As we don’t hold one at the end of December, there is quite a bit of business to get through. Everyone was pleased to see Nigel who had managed to get himself plastered after a recent Mountain adventure. Good to see he was recovering OK.

Pete, our team Secretary, is unavailable tonight, so John stepped in to cover his duties. He let us know that we have two new probationary members joining us. They have only just been informed, so they weren’t available tonight, but we look forward to meeting them soon. Hope they know what they are letting themselves in for.

On a similar subject, we were pleased to hear that Ryan has now been made up to a full hill member. Well done Ryan, not sure who we will get to carry the stretcher now!

We are heading towards our AGM at the end of March, where our Exec positions are elected. Pete has decided not to reapply for Secretary, due to work commitments and Mike is not standing for Cas Care officer due to the arrival of baby Eve. So there are a couple of positions on the Exec available for those who like to juggle a full time job along side their paid work.

Geoff went through the feedback from the callouts since our last meeting in November. One man we rescued in December sent us a surprisingly large donation. While we appreciate all donations, no matter how big or small, it was very generous and we would like to thank him.

Following some lengthy discussions we had at the previous couple of meetings, Geoff told us of a change the Exec wanted to make to allow their decisions to be more transparent to the rest of the team. On the whole this seemed to be accepted quite well, but it inevitably opened another can of worms, which needed discussing long passed our normal finish time. Finally, just as I was about to be overcome by thirst, the meeting was closed and we made up for lost time in the bar!

Saturday 27th January 2007 19:20hrs – Annual Team Christmas Dinner

In the long distant past, many a Christmas meal was interrupted by a badly timed callout. In light of this, our Christmas doo has always been moved to January. It was a good night out and nice to see everyone’s partners involved in the event. Here are a couple of photos of the night: