At 12:55 early this rainy afternoon the team was paged by NWAS (Lancashire) Emergency Control Centre regarding a female hillwalker in an organised group, who had slipped fracturing her leg.

The accident had happened slightly earlier, resulting in an immediate emergency response by an NWAS (Lancashire) Ambulance and the Blackpool-based Helimed 08 North West Air Ambulance.

The 66 year old woman was in an organised party of (we belive) 25 walkers from the Manchester Wednesday Ramblers Group. A number of her colleague walkers stayed to comfort her and administer initial first aid whilst others walked down in the worsening rain and low cloud conditions.

The accident had happened beside a moorland track near to Turn Lowe, Darwen Moor, which gives access to Turton Moor from the Crookfield Road car park area of Tockholes.

By 13:05 the responding NWAS (Lancashire) Emergency Ambulance and Helimed 08 had arrived in the vicinity of Crookfield Road car park, with Helimed 08 unable to fly higher onto the moor where the casualty site was due to worsening weather conditions and low cloud.

Our first team members arrived at the Crookfield Road RVP at 13:18 followed by our three responding Land Rovers which arrived at 13:12-13:15. By this stage the NWAS Emergency Ambulance crew had gone up onto the moor escorted by the walking companions of the injured lady.

Our BM1 Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance, with five team members onboard was able to drive carefully up the very soft muddy ground of the moorland track in torrential rain and access the casualty site. Two other team members walked up to the casualty site (including our Team Leader!!) and together with the NWAS staff offered the injured lady Entonox painkilling gas, splinted her serious lower leg injury and placed her on Alpine Lite specialist Mountain Rescue stretcher. The stretcher, with the woman on board, was then loaded into the back of the team’s BM1 Land Rover ambulance and with an NWAS staff member on board, was carefully driven back off the moor to the Crookfield Road RVP.

Here team members transferred the casualty, still on the MR stretcher, the short distance across a moorland pasture and placed her into the care of Helimed 08 crew at 14:09.

This photo courtesy of local United Utilities Ranger, Glynn Haworth

At circa 14:15, Helimed 08 departed with the injured woman on board for Royal Blackburn Hospital. Three of the five companions of the injured lady who had stayed with her throughout were then given a lift in our BM2 Land Rover vehicle to Bolton train station to journey back home (with the two other companions being given a lift back to their car at Tockholes in the NWAS Ambulance).

All MRT members had departed the RVP by 14:33.

This incident was yet again another excellent example of the Bolton MRT, NWAS, and North West Air Ambulance working together to effect a successful rescue in very poor weather conditions.

The Bolton MRT would like to publically thank all members of the Manchester Wednesday Ramblers Group for their correct actions in dealing with this incident.

The following resources were directly involved in this incident:

• NWAS (Lancashire) Emergency Control Centre Air Desk
• NWAS (Lancashire) Emergency Ambulance from Clitheroe Ambulance station, three crew on board
• North West Air Ambulance, Helimed 08 from Blackpool Airport
• United Utilities Ranger Glynn Haworth (who offered help in opening locked farm gates)
• Bolton MRT, three Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance vehicles and 14 team members on scene