Heat exhaustion to blame for two mountain rescue call outs

A WOMAN who began feeling faint above Powerscourt Waterfall had to be assisted down by Mountain Rescue personnel, while another woman had to be helped in Lacken on the same day after collapsing from heat exhaustion.

The woman in her sixties had been out walking with friends near the waterfall on Saturday, July 14, when she began to fell unwell. At 12.14 p.m. both the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Team and Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team were tasked by An Garda Síochána to assist. HSE paramedics hiked to the area and assessed the woman, It appeared she was suffering from suspected heat exhaustion.

Mountain rescue members brought the woman and the paramedics back to the ambulance in Crone car park and the incident was stood down at 1.20 p.m.

However, just seven minutes later, both teams were called into action again following an incident in Lacken.

A woman in her sixties had been walking with her husband in the forestry behind Lacken when she collapsed. Thanks to SARLOC technology, their location was identified and the woman was assessed by the HSE Advanced Paramedic. The lady was transported by mountain rescue vehicles back to the car park, where she was transferred to an ambulance and taken to hospital. The incident was stood down at 2.37 p.m.

The rescue teams were also called into action at 4.30 p.m. on Thursday, July 12, after a mountain biker fell near a tarmac road on Three Rock Mountain, Ticknock.

A mountain rescue advance paramedic, Wicklow Rapid Response doctor and a NAS ambulance crew treated the casualty before he was brought to hospital by ambulance. The incident was stood down at 4.40 p.m.