At 12 noon , March 1st, SEMRA was tasked to come to the assistance of a male walker who had sustained a lower leg injury while climbing in the Mahon Falls area of the Comeragh Mountains in Co.Waterford.
The man was a member of a very experienced and well equipped group of walkers who were climbing one of the gullies on the western side of Coummahon. Conditions underfoot were treacherous after weeks of incessant rain, causing the man to slip, injuring his hand and lower leg. His walking buddies made him as comfortable as possible until SEMRA personnel arrived on scene.
On this occasion, cloud cover was too low at the casualty site for a helicopter evacuation to be feasible. Due to the steep and unstable terrain, a multi-point anchor system was required to safely lower the casualty in a stretcher down a 500 metre slope to a team 4x4 vehicle. The casualty was transferred to a waiting ambulance at 1630hrs. Many thanks to An Garda Siochana, and the HSE Ambulance Service for a seamless multi-agency response.
If you find yourself in difficulty in the mountains please call emergency numbers 999/112 and ask for Mountain Rescue. South East Mountain rescue is a 24/7, 365 voluntary emergency service covering all the mountains of the South East of Ireland.
In April this year South Eastern Mountain Rescue will move into their new vehicle and equipment storage facility in the grounds of Clonmel Fire Brigade in Clonmel Town, County Tipperary. This facility will provide a centralised storage location for three SEMRA vehicles and team equipment. It will have the capacity to clean and dry equipment after a training exercise or team callout. This will ensure the team is in a state of readiness for a subsequent tasking in a reduced time frame. It will serve all geographical regions which SEMRA are directly involved in which includes but is not limited to counties Tipperary, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny and Cork. This new facility will assist SEMRA in providing a sustainable service in the community.
Labels: Incidents