The rescue scene on Hadrian's Wall. Photo: NNPMRT
An injured student on the Hadrian’s Wall path prompted one of three callouts for rescuers in Northumberland in four days.
Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team and North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team responded to a call for help on Thursday.
The injured person was taking part in an organised walk when the incident happened.
Iain Nixon, team leader from the national park team, said: “We received information that they’d injured their leg and needed assistance.
“We quickly called out both teams and local team members arrived at the scene within an hour. The walking group leader had done an excellent job in caring for the casualty and provided us with an accurate grid reference, which massively helped our planning.”
The teams assessed the injured walker, transferred them to a mountain rescue vehicle and drove them to a waiting ambulance. The rescue lasted three hours.
The previous day, the teams were called out to help find a high-risk missing person in the Rowlands Gill area.
“We received a request from Northumbria Police to assist in the search of the extensive wooded areas around Rowlands Gill,” Barry Kemp, deputy team leader of the North of Tyne team, said.
“We drew up search plans and deployed our team members in the late afternoon on Wednesday. Our mountain rescue search dogs were also deployed to good effect.”
While the teams were searching, the missing person was located in the search area, near the incident control. They were assessed by a team doctor before being transferred to an ambulance and taken to hospital for further treatment.
The mountain rescue teams were then stood down after nine hours of involvement.
On Saturday, both teams responded to a request from ambulance staff to help rescue a casualty who was ‘in a poor way’ in Kielder Forest.
As the mountain rescue teams were making their way to the incident, they were informed a community paramedic had reached the person and transferred them to a waiting ambulance.
Mr Nixon said: “Again, a swift response in an area that is becoming a bit of a hotspot for us.
“I think what these three incidents highlight is the adaptability that our team members display and our ability to respond to a variety of incidents. However, there is no denying that we are in the middle of a very busy period for us.
“We’ve had 16 incidents recently and have deployed team members for 10 of those.”
