At 13:10 this afternoon the team was paged by NWAS (Manchester) Control requesting the team’s immediate assistance at an incident in the Prestolee area of Kearsley.

Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE and senior team member Mike Marsh simultaneously returned the call to NWAS and the team was paged with full details at 13:19, to respond to the report of an unconcious male in a wooded area, on farmland adjacent to Oak Hill Farm, off Prestolee Road.

Our two responding team vehicles were en-route within a few minutes, and arrived on scene at 13:38 and 13:40 respectively. Our first responding team member had already arrived on scene by this time (13:25), and liaised with the ambulance and police staff on scene.

As the NWAS crew began treating the casualty for his injuries, team members with specialist stretchers and equipment made their way from the nearby farm track to the incident site.

Team members carry the casualty back to the waiting NWAS ambulanceThe unconcious male was treated for his condition including treatment for suspected spinal injuries. By 14:00 in a joint operation with NWAS staff, GMP officers and Bolton MRT members the man was placed onto a Bell Mountain Rescue stretcher and was evacuated around 400m across fields and tracks to the waiting NWAS Ambulance.

The NWAS Emergency Ambulance departed for Royal Bolton Hospital with the casualty on board at 14:22.

Team members carry the casualty back to the waiting NWAS ambulanceThe team and other emergency services present would like to thank those family members of the injured man present on scene for their understanding and kind words to all involved in this incident. Also we would like to thank the members of public who directed responding emergency vehicles from the nearby housing estate to the incident location along farm tracks.

Team members Steve Fletcher and John Dickinson with the unenviable job of “record keeping”!The following resources were involved on this incident:

• North West Air Ambulance, called to the scene but not utilised.
• Greater Manchester Police, local divisional officers, two area patrol cars and an area van.
• North West Ambulance Service (Manchester), Belle Vue Control Centre staff, One Emergency Ambulance with two crew members from Salford Ambulance station, one solo-crewed rapid response vehicle.
• Bolton MRT, two team vehicles and 15 team members on scene, one further team member stood down responding.