With a small number of team members back at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ after the end of Incident 16, and having concluded getting the punctured tyre repaired, all present were preparing to leave for home, when our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE was contacted directly by NWAS (Manchester) EOC at 18.20hrs to request our assistance with an incident local to our Base / HQ.

Due to a large number of emergency responses being made by NWAS because of the wintry conditions prevailing, no immediate NWAS resources were available, hence the request to the team to help.

Two team Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance vehicles and seven team members, were immediately despatched.

The incident involved an eighteen year old male who had recently sustained a dislocated knee, which had ‘popped back in.’

Whilst getting in to the drivers seat of his mothers car at his home address, the youths same knee had again dislocated, leaving him ‘stuck’ in the car in a large amount of pain and obvious discomfort.

Within four minutes our team members were on scene, (Moss Bank Way, Markland Hill) and pain killing gas was made available to the youth.

Due to his continuing and very considerable pain, a more powerful drug was then given, whilst team members worked out how best to remove him from the car.

Thankfully with appropriate specialist splinting the dislocation again ‘popped back in,’ though due to the youths position and the small size of the car, getting him out was a careful and considered operation, but one we regularly train for. (As we often deal with similar situations at RTC’s)

By 19.15hrs, he was placed prone with his leg fully splinted, on to one of our mountain rescue stretchers and then transported still on the stretcher directly in our BM3 vehicle, to Royal Bolton Hospital for further treatment and checks.

In total eight team members were involved in this incident.