At 23:21 Hrs this evening the Team was paged by NWAS (GMA) PEC regarding a 999 report of an injured male with a serious hip injury on a disused railway line, in the Tyldesley area.

Our Team Leader – benefiting from local knowledge, well he does live in Tyldesley – liaised with Ambulance control regarding the location of this injured person, resulting in a full Team Callout being paged at 23.31 Hrs.

Within a couple of minutes – it really was that close to our TL’s home address – our TL was on scene at Hough Lane, where the linear walkway of the former Tyldesley to Worsley railway line crosses under the main road to liaise with the responding ambulance crew from Atherton ambulance station and GMP assets that had also been called.

Together they tried to establish exactly were the injured man was on the disused line, along with two other informants who were also helping establish the mans position.

With a negative immediate result in this area and based on new information, the Ambulance, Police & our TL relocated to the open land and farm tracks in the Garrett Lane area of Astley. Again, the search was negative in this area.

By 23:44 Hrs a third location for this casualty was established which proved to be his actual location.

The 34 year old male involved had suffered a serious and very painful right hip displacement, following a simple trip – he had had a recent hip operation – and was lying on what we believe to be the route of a former railway line through a housing estate in the Ely Drive, Hen Fold Rd area of Astley, in the vicinity of Ellenor Brook. To further complicate his predicament the male involved also had an existing fractured right ankle – in plaster !

By this stage having established the man’s location the GMP officers involved left the scene in the hands of NWAS & Bolton MRT.

Team members supplied lighting to the area and in a joint operation with the 2 NWAS paramedics, the male was put on Entonox – pain killing gas – and then very carefully splinted using a full body vacuum mattress.

Safely placed on the Bell MR stretcher.

He was then stretcher evacuated using a Bell MR Stretcher the 300 M distance along the disused railway line to the waiting ambulance on Hen Fold Road

By 00:25 Hrs the casualty was placed into the NWAS ambulance for onward emergency transfer to Royal Bolton Hospital, with a Bolton MRT team member on board to assist the A&E Staff in the use of the vacuum mattress.

Getting ready to transfer to the NWAS ambulance.

In total 15 Team members were involved on scene, in unique and unusual night time urban rescue scenario, joint with NWAS and considerable guidance from NWAS Paramedic Emergency Control at Belle Vue.

The Team would like to express it’s thanks to the friend & family of the man involved, who offered much advice and guidance, which ultimately led to us locating and treating the man.