Mountain Rescue teams deal with two operations over weekend
Friday, the Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and the Glen of Imaal Red Cross Mountain Rescue Team were requested by the HSE Ambulance Control to assist with a road traffic accident at the Sally Gap.
A male motorcyclist was descending from the Sally Gap junction in the direction of the Coronation Plantation when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the ditch at the side of the road, sustaining a number of injuries in the process.
Mountain Rescue team members who were training nearby were requested to assist the attending ambulance crews. Due to the nature of the man's injuries and the remote location at which the accident occurred, the HSE requested the assistance of the Irish Coastguard rescue helicopter to airlift the man to hospital.
Weather conditions at the location initially delayed the operation but after a period the man was successfully picked up by the helicopter and transported to hospital.
Saturday both teams were requested by An Garda Síochána to rescue a man who had sustained a knee injury near Lough Dan.
The man was hiking on his own across steep ground above the Inchavore valley overlooking Lough Dan when he fell. As he was on his own and had no mobile phone reception, he decided to try to continue despite his injury.
Eventually he was able to attract the attention of some walkers in the valley who then contacted Mountain Rescue via 999 to report his shouts for help.
The rescuers were able to reach the area quickly using 4x4 vehicles to traverse a series of rough mountain tracks. Once in the valley, they were able to locate the man quickly and climbed up to him.
The man was treated by the experienced medics and placed in a stretcher for evacuation. The experienced volunteers used ropes and anchors to secure the stretcher on the descent and carried the man across the Inchavore River to a Mountain Rescue 4x4. The man was transferred to the vehicle and driven over the rough tracks back to Lough Dan Scout Centre where he was transferred to the care of a waiting HSE ambulance crew.
The attached images show the Irish Coastguard lifting the motorcyclist from the Sally Gap and the stretcher party approaching the Inchavore River carrying the injured hillwalker.
