Overview
- Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team reached a female walker on Scafell Pike on Saturday, treated her on scene, stretchered her to a safe landing point and she was flown to hospital.
- A separate incident in the Mickledore/Stretcher Box area involved a man who fractured or badly injured his ankle while with his young son and was carried off the mountain by stretcher before being reunited with family and taken to hospital.
- Coastguard helicopters including Rescue 897 and a Humberside aircraft were deployed but could not access the casualties because of low cloud and poor weather, forcing ground teams to move patients to landing points.
- Wasdale’s Scafell Pike evacuation took four hours and 19 minutes with 19 team members involved, while the ankle rescue required more than eight hours; Duddon & Furness Mountain Rescue Team were called to assist and were stood down in the Scafell Pike case.
- Volunteers also cared for the female walker’s dog, Jess, and the incidents underline how weather-limited air support can increase the physical and logistical burden on unpaid mountain rescue teams.