A 61 year-old walker was airlifted to hospital by a Coast Guard helicopter from the Backstairs mountains in Carlow yesterday evening. The walker had sustained a lower leg injury while out walking with three friends. The alarm was raised at around 4pm yesterday evening, when one of the men contacted the Mountain Rescue team through the 999/112 emergency number.
The team immediately called out all its members in the South East, many of whom are from the Carlow/Kilkenny area. The walkers were able to give a team rescue co-ordinator the exact location of the accident and he contacted the MRCC (Marine Rescue Coordinating Centre)in Dublin and requested their assistance. The Coast Guard S61 helicopter based at Waterford airport, with a crew of four on board, was immediately scrambled and flew directly to the accident site and picked up the injured walker in fading light. He was flown to Waterford Regional Hospital for treatment.
Mountain Rescue Team Leader, Ann Murphy, who comes from Carlow, said "the rescue was well co-ordinated, and knowing the exact location saved a lot of time. SEMRA regularly trains with the Coast Guard helicopter and its crew, based in Waterford, and it is a fantastic asset to have in the South East, not only for incidents at sea, but in the mountains also".
SEMRA would like to thank all involved in yesterday's rescue, its own voluntary members (this is the second time in a week they have been called out), the MRCC Dublin, the Coast Guard helicopter crew for their very fast response, and the friends of the injured man for their help on the mountain.
Fantastic news from the UK where our team mates, Terry Brophy from Kilkenny and Malcolm Daly from Tipperary, were taking part in the Land Rover G4 Challenge (Irish Selection) along with 40 others from around Ireland. First place was taken by our own Malcolm Daly, while Terry wasn't very far off the top spot again this year. The two lads were put through a gruelling weekend of off-road driving, orienteering, kayaking, mountain biking, tests of strength, endurance and lateral thinking. Terry said "physically and mentally, it was one of the toughest weekends of my life, but when Malcolm was announced the winner, I could have jumped over the moon". Malcolm said, "I couldn't believe it when my name was called out, I put 110% into this weekend and to come out on top is just a dream come true." In all, five mountain rescue members from Ireland took part in the weekend, well done to all. Malcolm will be back at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, England, next February, to take part in the International Selection for the G4 Challenge, where he stands a realistic chance of winning and going on to represent Ireland in the Global G4 Challenge that takes place in Mongolia and the spectacular Gobi desert in 2009.
Well done Malcolm and Terry, from all your friends and team mates in SEMRA.
Now the two friends have been chosen from hundreds of entries to attend the national selection that takes place at Land Rover’s testing ground in Herefordshire in the UK. After selection in the UK, one male and one female will be picked to represent Ireland in 2009 at the G4 Challenge in Mongolia and the spectacular Gobi desert.
The Land Rover G4 Challenge is a global 4x4 driving and adventure race, held every three years. Competitors from eighteen nations will take part in a three-week long challenge. The winners will secure a Land Rover vehicle for the Red Cross or Red Crescent in their respective nation.
SEMRA will hold two flag days in Clonmel on the last weekend of this month, the 31st of October and the 1st of November. Many team members come from the Clonmel/South Tipperary area and SEMRA is hoping to raise much needed funds for the upkeep of the two vehicles and rescue equipment located in Clonmel. Chairman of the team, Michael Power said "the vehicles in Clonmel play a vital, life-saving role in the team's operations. For the last number of years, we have had two vehicles, a 4x4 and a control vehicle, stationed in the Civil Defence yard which allows the team a very quick response time to any incident in the Clonmel area and beyond". He thanked Civil Defence for providing the parking spaces. He went on to say "as we don't have a permanent base, I would also like to thank the Chief Fire Officer in Clonmel for allowing the team to use the Fire Training Centre for meetings and training courses. On behalf of the SEMRA team, and especially the members from the Clonmel area, I would like to thank the Clonmel people, many of them hill walkers with the local Peaks Mountaineering Club, for their ongoing support". As a voluntary organisation, SEMRA relies on donations from the public and hill walking clubs. An annual grant from the Government covers around a quarter of SEMRA's yearly running costs.
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Two incidents, in the mountains of the South East of Ireland, made it a busy evening and night for SEMRA. At 1500 hrs on Friday, September 26th, 2008, the team was called out by Ambulance Control in Wexford, to an incident on the Comeragh mountains in Co Waterford. A lone walker, from Tipperary, had fallen and sustained a lower leg injury. The team, along with two Emergency Medical Technicians from the Ambulance Service in Clonmel, managed to evacuate the man to a waiting ambulance that had driven up through the woods to Lough Mohra, where the man had fallen during a walk. He was taken to Clonmel hospital and later transferred to Waterford Regional Hospital for treatment.
In the second incident later that night, at 2000hrs, An Garda Siochana based in Dungarvan called the team to an incident on the Knockmealdown Mountains, on the border of Tipperary and Waterford. A 62 year-old Limerick man had gone walking in the mountains and had failed to return to a pick-up point arranged with his wife. SEMRA went on full team callout and set up base just above the area known as "The Vee", from where the man had started his walk. The team called in the Coast Guard helicopter from Waterford to help in the search, it also called a search dog team from the search and rescue dog association, SARDA. Gardai from the local area were also on scene. Twenty-five members of the team were starting to search the mountains, when word came through that the man had made his way down the other side of the mountain to a house in the Goat's Bridge area and was safe and well. A team vehicle was sent to pick him up, and he was reunited with his family later that night. The man had become lost when dense fog covered the mountains yesterday evening. SEMRA would like to thank everyone that helped in yesterday's incidents, An Garda Siochana, The Coast Guard, SARDA, Ambulance Service and all its own voluntary members.
At around 15hrs today, SEMRA was alerted to an incident in the Comeragh Mountains in County Waterford by Ambulance Control in Wexford. A lone walker, in the vicinity of Lake Mohra, had slipped and injured his lower leg. A team 4x4 vehicle and personnel were mobilised to assist at the incident, evacuating the man to a waiting ambulance.
A camera crew from the popular RTE programme Nationwide accompanied SEMRA on a training day in the Galtees yesterday. A search and rescue exercise took place in which personnel and equipment were airlifted to the top of the Black Road by the Coast Guard Sikorsky S-61 Search & Rescue helicopter. Two team 4x4 vehicles also attended the incident site where an exercise casualty was located, assessed, treated and evacuated.
Last Friday, 29th August 2008 as team members were heading for home after our Dungarvan flag day, the team was put on standby for a search for a tourist missing at Mahon Falls in the Comeragh Mountains. The team vehicle that is stationed in Dungarvan was on its way to the incident when the man turned up safe and well, after he had become lost in fog and mist above the Falls.
SEMRA would like to thank everyone who supported its flag day, held in Dungarvan last Friday, 29th August 2008. SEMRA is grateful to the Media for publicising the day, and to all the hillwalkers and people who once again made this into a huge success. For supporting the Team and the vital role it plays in providing a life-saving service to the people of the South East and beyond, Thank You.
Local man, Michael Power, said "as Chairman of the team and a member of Dungarvan Hillwalking Club, it is an honour for me to see so many people from the Dungarvan area involved in Mountain Rescue. I am overwhelmed with the support we get from people every year when we hold our flag day".
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