Incident report

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team were called away from a fundraising event on the Staffordshire Roaches to attend the scene of a walking accident in Monks Dale, near Tideswell.

The casualty, a 48 year old man from Sutton Coldfield, had slipped in the very wet conditions and sustained a suspected fracture of his right ankle.  The steep sides and narrow limestone tracks of Monks Dale made access to the casualty difficult but team members were able to treat the injury and offer pain relief.  The evacuation on a stretcher was hampered by narrrow tracks in muddy conditions, and very slippy limestone rocks making it awkward and potentially dangerous for the rescue team members.  However, with sufficient numbers to distribute the effort, the injured man carried through the dale, up the steep banks, and along a track to a waiting ambulance.

The well equipped man was part of an organised outdoor group and was five miles in to a fifteen mile walk which should have terminated in a Christmas dinner in Bakewell.  Lunch at Chesterfield Royal Hospital probably wasn’t the same.

Progress along an easy stretch of an otherwise difficult carry-off