Keswick Mountain Rescue Team RESCUE REPORT 2019 Introduction Contents Welcome to the 2019 Rescue Report of Keswick Mountain Rescue Team. 1..................................................................... The Team The Team operates in the area shown on the map on page 2, and elsewhere, as required. 2, 16-17........................................................... Statistics The Report includes a record of the Team’s activities throughout 2018. 3-5............................................................. Team Leader The Team had 110 callouts, which included a wide range of types of incident. On 10 days the Team had 2 callouts, and on 3 days the Team had 3 callouts. 6-15........................................................ Incidents 2018 The well-known accident ‘blackspots’ featured strongly in the list of 110 callouts, as 18.................................................................... Mick Guy follows: 19 ........................................................ Mike Nixon MBE Browncove Crags area (5 callouts), Barf (4), Sharp Edge (4), and Cat Bells (5). On one day 2 incidents occurred almost in the same location for the same reason: a strong 20-23 .............................................. The Lemming Road gusty wind caused the accidents near Little Town. 24-25............................................................. Drugs Roll Three incidents occurred, on separate days, in the Nitting Haws area. This has led to 26 .............................................................. “Thank You” concerns about mapping issues in this area: see the article in this Report on pages 20-23. 27 ...................................................... Treasurer’s Report For more information about the Team www.keswickmrt.org.uk and also the Team’s presence on ‘Facebook’ and ‘Instagram’. 28-29................................................... Collection Boxes Thanks to local artist Venus Griffiths, who has donated the painting of Friar’s Crag. 30-31................................................ Please Support Us The framed original is for sale to the highest bidder. It may be viewed at Derwent Frames, 32................................................... A Probationers View High Hill, Keswick. All proceeds go to Keswick Mountain Rescue Team. The website For more information about the Team see: Friar’s Crag Venus Griffiths www.keswickmrt.org.uk Keswick Mountain Rescue Team 2019 Chairman Gordon Barker Secretary Fiona Boyle Treasurer Ian Wallace Team Leader Chris Higgins Committee Tom Blakely Paul White Deputy Team Leaders Paul Barnes Chris Gillyon Steve Hepburn 72 Years 1947 - 2019 Medical Officer Tim Hooper Incident 13 - Cat Bells Training Officers Alan Barnes Steve Hepburn Gordon Barker Company Director Adrian Holme Emergency Planner Water Officer Paul Barnes Alan Barnes Emergency Medical Technician Stuart Holmes Photographer Radio Officer Alan Prescott Paul Barnes Fire Fighter Tim Hooper GP Vehicles Officer Matt Eaves Martin Bell Paramedic Katharine Horder Retired Head Teacher Equipment Officers Dan Jordan Sarah Bennett Tour Operator Jonathan Hughes Rope Access Rigger George Lloyd Tom Blakely Paramedic John Hunston Retired Accountant Tom McNally Fiona Boyle Lecturer and Mountain Leader Base Officers Sarah Bennett Paul Cheshire Chartered Engineer Andy Jones Guest House Proprietor Geoff Gilmore Nuala Dowie Hotel Proprietor Dan Jordan Emergency Medical Technician Report Editor Peter Little Craig Dring Retired Procurement Manager Peter Little Retired Pharmacist Secretary (membership) Tom Blakely Matt Eaves Sole Trader: Greenescape George Lloyd Police Officer Collection Box Co-ordinators Malcolm Miller Adam Edmondson Outdoor Pursuits Instructor Tom McNally Photographer Paul White Donald Ferguson Rope Access Technician Malcolm Miller Retired Head Teacher IT Manager Rob Grange Chris Francis Fire Service Duane Moran Outdoor Pursuits Instructor Data Protection Officer Craig Dring Richard Gale Accommodation Provider Phil Newton Retired Social Secretary Hannah Wignall Chris Gillyon Company Director David Pratt Teacher Geoff Gilmore Leisure Pool Manager Alan Prescott Senior Manager Sarah Graham Paramedic Lisa Price General Marina Manager Rob Grange Photographer Jocky Sanderson Outdoor Pursuits Instructor Steve Hepburn Company Director Richard Smith Outdoor Pursuits Instructor Email: [email protected] Chris Higgins Company Director - Outdoor Pursuits Ian Wallace Retired Keswick MRT Headquarters, Dave Hill Store Manager Paul White Papermill Chemist Lakeside Car Park, Lake Road, Mark Hodgson Retired Project Director Elly Whiteford Technical Specialist Simon Hodgson Company Director Hannah Wignall Sports Therapist Keswick, Cumbria CA12 5DJ 1 Keswick Mountain Rescue Team CALLOUT STATISTICS Area of Responsibility 110 Callouts DAYS OF THE WEEK 2018 35 30 Overwater Caldbeck 25 20 Bassenthwaite 15 Skiddaw Blencathra 10 Threlkeld 5 Braithwaite KESWICK INCIDENTS INCIDENTS 0 Derwentwater MT WTFS S MONTHS OF THE YEAR 2018 20 18 Thirlmere Grange 16 Helvellyn 14 12 Seathwaite 10 8 6 4 Scafell Pike 2 INCIDENTS INCIDENTS 0 J F M A M J J A S O N D 2 Team Leader’s Report 2019 It was at five minutes to three on New Years Eve Typically this is how our rescues unfold:- that we got our last call for help in 2018. This Notification of a text message from the police or was our 110th rescue of the year and thankfully ambulance service comes first, followed by the was relatively straight forward, for us. For our ping of an email - when the two sounds happen casualty, whom we suspect had broken her close together, I know there’s a rescue. Any ankle, it probably dampened her New Year time, any day, this is how a rescue starts. celebrations! We wish her, as we do all our “KESWICK TLs Call CUMPOL 101 Ref. CP- casualties, a full and speedy recovery and hope 20180X10-XXXX 48 yr old male climber fallen to see you back on the fells again soon - Black Crag head injury”. although in different circumstances! That is all we get but this could be serious. Team The 110 rescues of 2018 were carried out by a members leave what they’re doing and get to group of dedicated volunteers and it is these Base. Birthday parties are left, meals go cold, people that I would like to draw to your attention. dogs not walked. Some drive, some jump on Unlike many countries with professional rescue bikes and others ‘hot foot’ it to HQ, where the teams, mountain rescue in the UK relies on first there are busy getting vehicles and kit ready. everyday people to step up and volunteer. The In the Control Room, someone fires up the high level of skill and professionalism of these computers and reads the incident log - we call volunteers is testament to their dedication and the informant to get an update and reassure self-sacrifice (and that of their families), their them that help is on the way. eagerness to help others, their love of the mountains and their commitment to each other The informant sounds shaken and tells us that Chris Higgins and to being part of the team. he and his friend are climbing a route called and ask for a Coastguard helicopter with a Troutdale Pinnacle but his friend has fallen about Many of our rescues are uncomplicated and winch - it may take an hour to arrive but once 10 to15 metres. He has a bad head injury - really present little difficulty or danger to the team. there, will be able to get the climber to hospital ‘groggy’, isn’t talking much sense and there’s However, not all are like this and it is for these far faster than a road ambulance. We need to quite a bit of blood. His climbing helmet is split that we need a very high level of expertise. Team use that hour to get to the casualty, stabilise and he’s below the traverse, hanging in his members attend regular Thursday night training him, treat his injuries and prepare him for harness and unable to move. You can hear the evenings and dedicated technical courses and winching - things can be turned around in that panic in the informant’s voice - he wants to help the ‘simple’ rescues also provide excellent first hour if we do our job well. his friend, but doesn’t know what to do. training opportunities for the more complex Blue lights flashing and siren wailing, we head ones. The more rescues we do the better we are. At Base, decisions are made. We call the police down Borrowdale. Tasks and rucksacks of 3 Team Leader’s Report 2019 Within minutes you’re breathing hard - there are a couple of fields to cross and, although it’s flat, it can be awful with no warm up. Then the uphill starts - ten minutes to the bottom of the crag then another ten minutes to the top - and you just need to get your body and your bag up there. At the top of the crag, jobs are done with well-practiced efficiency as a team member is harnessed up, ready to be lowered down the crag, ropes are secured, roles allocated, final checks made - radio silence. And then the calls go round - “Main-line ready!” “Safety ready!” “Edge ready!” “Rescuer ready!” “Begin to lower - speed good.” The ropes pay out as the rescuer and first aid kit are lowered to the casualty. Oxygen, neck collars, bandages, airways, tough-cut scissors, tape, an array of monitors, various drugs… Over the radio we hear “Keswick Mountain Rescue, this is Rescue 199”. The Coastguard helicopter is approaching. We set off a flare and orange smoke drifts eerily across the crag top. Soon the calmness turns into a maelstrom as the sound of the engines and the downwash from the rotors make communication nigh on impossible. Minutes drag as the pilot manoeuvres above us to get into the best position, to hold his aircraft steady before the door opens. Then out swings the winchman, an orange clad ‘angel’ signalling to be lowered - we fight the ‘hurricane’ to watch, Multi Agency Training on Derwentwater, July 2018 jackets flapping and words snatched away. heavy kit allocated. Calls over the radio are drowned out by the siren. Cars More minutes pass - those of us on the top of the crag can’t see the pull over and we eat and drink, anticipating the energy we’ll expend with the ‘cas-site’. What’s going on down there? Then suddenly up, up, the coming efforts.