Teen dislocates kneecap in forest

DUBLIN Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Teas were involved in three separate rescues over the period of a week.

On Saturday, September 15 both teams received a request from the National Ambulance Service about a teenager who suffered an injury in Ballylow Forest, near Kilbride, which resulted in them dislocating their patella or kneecap. The call was received at 4.10 p.m..

The teenager was located and treated by an ambulance crew, while mountain rescue personnel prepared a stretcher. The teen was then carried a short distance to an ambulance waiting on a forest road. The incident was stood down at 5.39 p.m.

The two teams were soon back in action on Tuesday, September 18, after a walker sustained a head injury after a fall. The call-out was received at 2.35 p.m. and the two teams made their way to the scene of the accident on the Wicklow Way near Lough Tay. A mountain rescue emergency medical technician (EMT) assisted an advanced paramedic to treat the walker. The patient was then packaged into a stretcher and evacuated to a waiting ambulance. The rescue operation came to a halt at 3.50 p.m.

On Saturday, September 22, the two teams were involved in assisting a hill walker who sustained a leg injury. The alarm was raised at 4.07 p.m. The walker, who was with a group, sustained a knee injury while descending from Lugnaquilla.

The party’s position was confirmed using Sarloc Rescue and mountain rescue hill parties were dispatched to their location. Following assessment by an mountain rescue medic, the walker was packaged into a stretcher, evacuated to a stretcher-capable vehicle and then transferred to an ambulance. The incident was stood down at 6.26 p.m.