Rescue team members and air ambulance crew at the site of the team's 1,000th incident. Photo: Calder Valley SRT
A rescue team clocked up its 1,000th mission when it went to the aid of an injured walker on the Brontë moors.
Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team reached the milestone on Thursday when it was called out to the Pennine Way in West Yorkshire.
A 68-year-old woman suffered a leg injury while walking on the national trail below Top Withins, the supposed setting for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. The team was alerted about 3.40pm and used the Sarloc smartphone system to pinpoint her position on the moors.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter also flew to the scene.
A team spokesperson said: “Once the lady was packaged and comfortable, CVSRT members stretchered her to the helicopter for evacuation from the moors to the land ambulance situated on the roadhead.
“Team members then created a secondary landing site for the helicopter and then assisted with the transfer of the casualty to the land ambulance.
“This callout was the 1,000th incident milestone since the team formed in 1966, and coincidentally it was Yorkshire Air Ambulance aircrew paramedic Sammy Wills’s 999th patient too.”
The rescue involved 14 Calder Valley team volunteers for more than 3¼ hours.
Team members rigged up a rope system to help the evacuation of the man near Walshaw. Photo: Calder Valley SRT
Earlier in the week, the team marked a 999 milestone with the rescue of an 80-year-old man in a wooded area near Walshaw Farm in Calderdale.
The volunteers were called out about 1.30pm on Tuesday to help ambulance crews with the patient who was suffering chest pains.
The spokesperson said: “When team members arrived on scene, aircrew paramedics from Yorkshire Air Ambulance were already in attendance and treating the casualty. The aircrew requested the team’s assistance to quickly evacuate the casualty from the woodland to the helicopter for further assessment.
“CVSRT members promptly rigged a single rope haul system to assist with the evacuation by stretcher up the slippery hillside to the helicopter. Following further assessment the casualty was then carried to the land ambulance for transfer to hospital.”
Fourteen team members were involved in the Calder Valley SRT’s 999th incident, which lasted more than 2½ hours.
Read grough’s guide to walking Top Withins, inspiration for Wuthering Heights.
