Campers rescued during bad weather

MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS CALLED OUT EIGHT TIMES IN SEVEN DAYS

TWO separate campers were rescued after they found themselves in difficulty during the bad weather brought by Storm Ernesto overnight on Saturday.

At 11.22 p.m., both the Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Team were tasked to assist an individual who was camping above Fraughan Rock Glen near Lugnaquilla when their tent failed due to high winds and heavy rain. The teams used Sarloc technology to locate the camper before helping them down from the hill.

That incident was stood down at 2.17 a.m. but less than an hour later, at 3.11 a.m., both teams were called to assist another camper in difficulty near the Sally Gap.

Again, Sarloc was used to locate the individual and a hill party was formed to walk to the site. This second incident was stood down at 4.40 a.m.

These were just two of nine call-outs responded to by Wicklow’s two mountain rescue teams in a seven-day period.

The most recent incident occurred just after 1.30 p.m. on Sunday when both teams were tasked by the gardaí to assist an ambulance crew tending to an injured mountain biker at Ticknock. Mountain rescue personnel assisted with access to the site and the evacuation of the mountain biker to a waiting ambulance. The incident was stood down at 2.41 p.m.

Rescuers were called to the first of two incidents on Wednesday, August 15, at 11.13 a.m., after a walker collapsed near Prince William Seat in Curtlestown.

The walker was treated on scene by paramedics and the incident was stood down at 11.46 a.m. At 9.06 p.m. that night, the two teams were back on duty after a hill runner suffered a lower leg injury on the Brockaghs.

Mountain rescue staff assessed and treated the injury before evacuating the runner to a waiting ambulance. The incident was stood down at 10.58 p.m.

Sunday, August 12, was an extremely busy day for the mountain rescue volunteers as they responded to three separate incidents.

At 3.39 p.m. they were tasked to search for two walkers, one of whom had a medical issue, who were lost on Montpelier Hill. The lost walkers were located using Sarloc Rescue technology and were assessed by mountain rescue medics before being accompanied to safety. The incident was stood down at 4.42 p.m.

At 5.08 p.m., the teams were made aware that a vulnerable person had been missing for over an hour in Glendalough. A full-team callout was initiated, but the subject was located safe and well shortly afterwards. The incident was stood down at 5.20 p.m.

At 10.12 p.m., the teams were asked by the gardaí to search for disorientated walkers near Blessington. The walkers were located thanks to Sarloc technology, and personnel were deployed to the scene. However, during subsequent communications, rescuers discovered that the walkers had successfully reoriented and assistance was no longer required. The incident was stood down at 11.05 p.m.

The Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team were also involved in an operation in the Dublin Mountains which occurred on Sunday, August 19. An mountain rescue advanced paramedic crew and a Rapid Reaction Vehicle (RRV) responded to reports of a mountain biking accident just after 4 p.m.

The patient was treated and stabilised at the scene prior to being extracted by stretcher and transferred to Hospital for further assessment.