At 12.54hrs with three team vehicles and six members already at Incident 16 (See previous Incident Report) we were called by NWAS (Manchester) to assist an NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Ambulance crew with an injured snow sledger on the shallow valley side of Middlebrook, at the bottom of Ladybridge Lane, barely a couple of minutes from our Ladybridge Hall, Bolton, Base / HQ.

A full team page was made at 12.58hrs, with our BM1 vehicle responding from the Bradshaw incident (Incident 16) and a further vehicle, BM2, responding direct from our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ with team members Elaine Gilliland and Chris Tennant on board.

Our BM2 vehicle arrived at the NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Ambulance, which was parked at the railway bridge at the foot of Ladybridge Lane, at 13.05hrs followed by our BM1 vehicle at 13.09hrs.

Essential rescue kit was quickly taken across to the incident site by the four initially responding team members, and one of the NWAS crewman who had returned to his vehicle to meet the responding team members.

Thanks are also expressed here to two passers by, husband and wife Phil and Christine Boake, who greatly assisted by helping carry kit to the incident scene. (In one of those coincidences, Phil Boake is an NWAS Ambulance Driver Trainer, so commented that he was getting to see what the Emergency crews get up to on incidents)

With the NWAS Emergency Ambulance crew (From Bolton North Ambulance Station) jointly working with MRT members, the 44 years old male sledger was carefully splinted using an MRT full length specialist vacuum mattress, given his suspected lower back injuries.

He was then placed on a mountain rescue ‘Alpine Lite’ specialist stretcher, and commencing at 13.30hrs evacuated back to the waiting NWAS Emergency Ambulance, which then departed for Royal Bolton Hospital.

Yet again the close co-operative working between NWAS and the Bolton MRT brought about the successful conclusion of this incident.

In total eleven Bolton MRT members were present on scene at this incident, with a further seven stood down responding who were not ultimately required.