Gt. Langdale

A 39 year old man sustained a suspected fractured ankle and minor spinal injuries when he slipped on a path. We splinted him and carried him off.

A man had his foot crushed when he tried to stop a rock from falling on his wife. He was given medical treatment and helicoptered to Barrow by RAF Boulmer

A 55 year old Australian woman slipped, in trainers, on wet ground and fractured her ankle. We sorted it. Our care recognises no boundaries.

A 47 year old man sustained an ankle injury and was airlifted to Ambleside by a passing helicopter. We spent more time rounding up his friends, who seemed to go "Walkabout", than we did treating his injuries.

A party of 5 became benighted due to inexperience, an over-ambitious route and atrocious weather. One made it down to the valley to raise the alarm. When we arrived at the scene, two were suffering severe hypothermia, and two, minor. Again 90mph winds and rain and snow prevented a helicopter reaching the scene. Team members bivouacked until first light, when two casualties were walked out, and two were stretchered to Angle Tarn. Although winds were still very high, daylight allowed a helicopter from Boulmer to pick up the two stretcher cases.

A young foreign student sustained an ankle injury in the Loft Crag area. A search was mounted, but we failed to find him. He was eventually tracked down in the Stickle Barn pub. He and his friends were debriefed in the universal language, and our Team members were recalled from the far reaches of Langdale.

This woman had no crampons or ice axe when she slipped and slid 400ft. on snow, breaking both wrists, and sustaining minor head injuries. She did manage to walk down to Mickleden where she was met by the Team. 10/10 for self reliance. 2/10 and SEE ME for planning.

A young couple chose to ascend the fell by a very obscure route. It would have been an odd choice in warm, dry conditions, so in the snow and ice that prevailed, it left us scratching our heads The young man took a tumble, hit his head, and then carried on uphill(?). They eventually became cragfast and started to shout for help. Their shouts were heard by a passing postman, who raised the alarm. We eventually tracked them down by following the trail of blood uphill. Both were suffering from severe hypothermia and the younq man had a nasty head injury.

A young woman slipped on ice and fractured her tib. and fib. It was cold and dark.

A Team member out on the fells came across a man who had collapsed and died of a suspected heart attack. He summoned assistance from the Team and with the help of a helicopter from RAF Boulmer the body was recovered.

A 54 year old woman put her foot down a hole and fractured her ankle in six places. Her initial location was given by a grid reference, the wrong way round, and described as "by a wall". I am informed that there are only 50,000 miles of walls in the Lakes, so this information really helped us pin-point the location.

A party of three in their thirties phoned from "Three Tarns" to say they were lost in the mist and dark, and could we guide them off. This always difficult to do since if their exact location is not known then we can't know for sure where we're sending them, and having no torch didn't help. We sent a party up to locate them. On the phone one of them revealed that he had a "personal locator beacon", a device for locating crashed aircrews at sea. We discussed the matter with the RAF and they said they could pin-point it if a helicopter could fly low over it a couple of times.

A 45 year old woman slipped and fractured her ankle. We did the usual sort of stuff and carried her down. The good thing about the people we meet is that they've not heard our collection of not very amusing jokes, and they're fastened down and at our mercy.

This incident was reported as requiring an Ambulance for leg injuries. The man was actually three miles up the fellside and suffering from debilitating chest pains. He was treated for his pain by Team members then airlifted to Furness General Hospital by a Royal Navy Helicopter. He was actually suffering from torn intercostal muscles, sustained several days earlier, but requiring heavy exertion to bring on the problem.

This lady slipped on the descent from Pike How and fractured her ankle. She was treated in the usual manner and carried off. She was able to remark on what an exciting ride down it was. You'd have to pay a fortune to get such a thrilling ride in a fairground, but we do it for free.

A man collapsed during the descent from an overnight camp in the hills. An ambulance was called, but he was too far up for them to evacuate. We arrived and assisted the ambulance with the administration of I.V. fluids and oxygen and then evacuated him to the ambulance. During all this he was completely incoherent and semi-conscious, only coming round briefly to inform us that he was a year younger than his companion informed us when we were filling in our casualty information card. He spent three days in Intensive Care.

A 14 year old girl slipped while walking with a school party and injured her ankle. The leader was all fired up to evacuate the girl using a climbing rope and the rest of the party, but common sense prevailed and he called us instead. There's a time and place for self help and a group of hot, tired 13 year olds is neither. It's much easier to evacuate one casualty from the fell than 5 or 6, even if they are a bit lower down.

A 58 year old woman collapsed while walking with her son and husband. They carried her down a good part of the way and then sent for help. She was suffering from heat induced exhaustion, and her companions had handled the situation well, even realising at one point that she was becoming cold, and taking steps to re-warm her. She was taken to Ambleside Health Centre for a once over from a doctor.

A 17 year old male slipped and fractured his ankle. Again the team was called, but the young man's friends carried him down and we arrived in the car park as they did, leaving us with only the splinting to do.

A 35 year old competitor fell and hit his head. The team was called and dispatched a vehicle to the scene, but the man made his own way down and was treated at the finish.

This man slipped while descending Middlefell Gulley, and fell about 20ft. sustaining rib and spinal injuries. He was immobilised in a full body splint and cervical collar and evacuated from the gully to hospital. We were assisted by members of Kendal MRT.

A man who had been evicted from the pub, went on to the fells in a drunken state. He found his way to a precarious spot on Upper Scout Crag and collapsed, unconscious and fitting. He was evacuated from the fell and taken to Kendal Hospital.

This man fell and sustained serious head and back injuries. When we arrived at the reported scene we found nothing. A bit of detective work located them a bit lower down, the injured man being "walked" down by his friends. Although well intentioned, this is not a very safe method of evacuating a barely conscious man with unknown neck and back injuries.

A 45 year old man slipped while walking and badly fractured his ankle.

A 23 year old woman slipped and sustained a possible fractured ankle. She was splinted and carried off the Fell.

People camping at Angle Tarn heard shouts for help. They phoned us and went to investigate. They found a husband and wife benighted and without a torch. They contacted us and informed us that they had room for them in their tents and would point them in the right direction in the morning. They had suffered no injuries so we left them to it. They were reported missing from their Grasmere Guest House at 10am the following day, by which time they were well on their way down. Lesson to be learned? Take a torch!

A woman slipped and fractured her ankle. It's along way down from Loft Crag so we had plenty of opportunity to share her pain, and to be amused by some of the side effects of Morphine. (You giggle a lot, chatter incessantly and the rest is our secret.)

A couple reported themselves in difficulty in the mist near Three Tarns, by mobile phone. There were found quickly and escorted down. The Great Langdale Nannying Service PLC strikes again!

Having survived the previous day without any reports of 'Distress Flares' we were back to the old broken ankle routine. Did the job, went home.

We were alerted by mobile phone that these three were unhurt, but lost in the vicinity of Stickle Tarn. A search, using dogs and man power was organised, but nothing was found. A little later we were contacted from the Old Dungeon Ghyll to say that they had found there way down. An interview with them revealed that they had actually been near Angle Tarn (a subtle, but significant difference). Where I went to school, we would have called people like this "Divvies", and there are several popular contemporary expressions, that decency prevents me from using, that would be appropriate.