With some team members still at our Base HQ location checking kit, and cleaning vehicles after all the previous incidents, at 16:58 hours our Team Leader was contacted by NWAS (Greater Manchester) to respond to a sledging accident in deep snow on the moorland slopes above Horwich.

An immediate response was made by 10 team members in 3 team vehicles, meeting the responding NWAS (Greater Manchester) Emergency Ambulance crew on Cotswold Drive, Horwich, the nearest road-point to the incident.

The sledging accident had occured to an adult party of sledgers (very well equipped with excellent sledges) from Horwich Community Allotments Society.

One of their members, a 55 year old man, suffered a very serious fracture / dislocation of his right ankle.

His friends provided excellent immediate first-aid and important protection from the -4 degree (much colder with the windchill) temperatures.

Team members assisted the NWAS crew with splinting the mans injury and he was then stretcher evacuated by a mixed party of Bolton MRT members and his friends, back to the waiting ambulance.

Because of the deep snow this evacuation was made relatively easy as we were able to sledge our stretcher downhill for most of the way (a technique the team has regularly practised over a number of years)