Record Day(25/04/11)
Yesterday Easter Bank Holiday Monday 25th April turned into a busy day for both the Glen of Imaal Red Cross Mt.Rescue Team and the Dublin/Wicklow Mt.Rescue Team with 4 rescues happening in quick succession.
Starting at 2pm the rescues happened as follows:
Mon 25th April, 2pm – A woman fell on the ‘Spinc’ walk in Glendalough and injured her shoulder. Rescue teams were dispatched and the lady was treated and stretchered from the top of the cliffs to an awaiting ambulance on the forest tracks. At 4pm she was then transferred to hospital for further treatment.
Almost simultaneously another lady sprained her ankle on the Wicklow Way near Borenacrow and called for assistance from Mountain Rescue. A Rescue vehicle (4X4 Landrover) was able to reach her and her companion and carry them back down to her car in the valley. This incident was quickly dealt with and everyone had returned to the valley before 4pm.
At 3pm approx. another call for assistance was made to Mountain Rescue Teams via the 999/112 emergency system. A hillwalker who had been camping in the Inchavore valley near Lough Dan had fallen and injured his lower back and ribs. The Irish Coastguard was available to assist with their Sikorsky helicopter (“Rescue 117”), but at the last minute as the helicopter was lifting off, they experienced a fault warning on their instrument panel and returned quickly to the landing zone and shut down. This is known as a technical breakdown and rendered the helicopter grounded until a maintenance crew could check out the fault. Both the Glen of Imaal Red Cross MRT and Dublin/Wicklow MRT attended, and were on scene to stretcher out the injured man to an awaiting boat and ambulance. However, the Coastguard were able to make another helicopter available (“Rescue 116”) and a transfer was carried out from one to another. The second helicopter airlifted the man safely to hospital and everyone was about to stand down, when the pagers went off again.
The fourth callout began at 6pm, and consisted of a missing 16 yr old teenager who was walking with his family but had become separated from them. They had been walking near Lugnaquillia near Glenmalure and had lost contact from each other in the Kelly’s Lake area, quite high up on the mountain. Thankfully, the youth was discovered on a track in the Glenmalure valley by the rescue teams arriving on scene, and he was reunited with his very relieved family.
Wicklow Mountain Rescue Teams would like to thank all of those people and organisations who assisted on the day and helped to make all of the operations run smoothly and efficiently. Thanks to the Health Services, the Irish Coastguard, the National Park, An Garda Síochána, the staff of Lough Dan Centre, the Glenmalure Lodge, the people working in Glendalough valley who helped the rescue teams, the members of the rescue teams themselves who were so busy and a special thanks to the many bystanders who were of great assistance on such a busy day.
Starting at 2pm the rescues happened as follows:
Mon 25th April, 2pm – A woman fell on the ‘Spinc’ walk in Glendalough and injured her shoulder. Rescue teams were dispatched and the lady was treated and stretchered from the top of the cliffs to an awaiting ambulance on the forest tracks. At 4pm she was then transferred to hospital for further treatment.
Almost simultaneously another lady sprained her ankle on the Wicklow Way near Borenacrow and called for assistance from Mountain Rescue. A Rescue vehicle (4X4 Landrover) was able to reach her and her companion and carry them back down to her car in the valley. This incident was quickly dealt with and everyone had returned to the valley before 4pm.
At 3pm approx. another call for assistance was made to Mountain Rescue Teams via the 999/112 emergency system. A hillwalker who had been camping in the Inchavore valley near Lough Dan had fallen and injured his lower back and ribs. The Irish Coastguard was available to assist with their Sikorsky helicopter (“Rescue 117”), but at the last minute as the helicopter was lifting off, they experienced a fault warning on their instrument panel and returned quickly to the landing zone and shut down. This is known as a technical breakdown and rendered the helicopter grounded until a maintenance crew could check out the fault. Both the Glen of Imaal Red Cross MRT and Dublin/Wicklow MRT attended, and were on scene to stretcher out the injured man to an awaiting boat and ambulance. However, the Coastguard were able to make another helicopter available (“Rescue 116”) and a transfer was carried out from one to another. The second helicopter airlifted the man safely to hospital and everyone was about to stand down, when the pagers went off again.
The fourth callout began at 6pm, and consisted of a missing 16 yr old teenager who was walking with his family but had become separated from them. They had been walking near Lugnaquillia near Glenmalure and had lost contact from each other in the Kelly’s Lake area, quite high up on the mountain. Thankfully, the youth was discovered on a track in the Glenmalure valley by the rescue teams arriving on scene, and he was reunited with his very relieved family.
Wicklow Mountain Rescue Teams would like to thank all of those people and organisations who assisted on the day and helped to make all of the operations run smoothly and efficiently. Thanks to the Health Services, the Irish Coastguard, the National Park, An Garda Síochána, the staff of Lough Dan Centre, the Glenmalure Lodge, the people working in Glendalough valley who helped the rescue teams, the members of the rescue teams themselves who were so busy and a special thanks to the many bystanders who were of great assistance on such a busy day.
