Following a 999 call to the NWAS (Manchester) shortly after 12 noon today, concerning a paintballer with a lower leg fracture, in woodland off Ringley Road West in the Outwood, Kearsley area, the team was paged by NWAS (Manchester) at 12.06hrs for assistance.

At the time weather conditions were very bad with very heavy rain and low cloud.
Our Team Leader Garry Rhodes was first on scene at the roadside RVP at the ’ Milestone House,’ at 12.29hrs meeting a representative of the paint balling site.

At this stage the North West Air Ambulance Helimed 08 which was also en route, had to turn back due to the worsening mixed conditions of heavy rain and low cloud along it’s flightpath.

By 12.35 our second responding member, Geoff Seddon our Deputy Team Leader, arrived at the roadside RVP, and proceeded to the paintballing site to assess the actual casualty site.

Team members surround the casualty.

Meanwhile our Team Leader in association with an NWAS (Manchester) Rapid Response Vehicle Paramedic followed to park up near to the incident location at ’ The Barn, Higher Heaps.’

The casualty, a 33 years old male from Timperley, was with a very large group of paintballers, all at the organised paintball site, all from a stag party group. He had fallen down, and was lying on, a short but very steep, slippy and muddy slope, suffering from a fractured lower leg, very wet and cold, in shock and the beginnings of the onset of hypothermia.

Team members secured him with a lifeline to prevent him sliding further down the slope, whilst others and the NWAS Paramedic assessed his injuries and attempted to stabilise his fractured lower leg.

With much difficulty given his position on the slope, his leg was splinted and he was placed onto a Bell Mountain Rescue stretcher. Team members assisted by other paintballers then put into operation a simple rope haul system to bring the stretcher and the stretcher party back up the very steep and slippy slope.
All the while the male involved was on ’ Entonox ’ pain killing gas.
From his position in the woodland, in continuing very heavy rain, he was then stretcher evacuated to the waiting NWAS (Manchester) Emergency Ambulance, which departed at 13.35hrs for Royal Bolton Hospital.

Evacuation up the slippery slopes.

In all 20 Bolton MRT team members were involved, NWAS (Manchester) resources included an RRV and an Ambulance, with of course the usual assistance and considerable help from NWAS (Manchester) Belle Vue Ambulance Control.

Arrival at the Ambulance RVP.

The team wishes to thank all the paintballers who helped us with this rescue, and incidentally gave us all a standing ovation at the conclusion of the incident.

We would also like to thank the owners of ’The Barn, Higher Heaps,’ who put up with a load of Mountain Rescuers private cars, our Mountain Rescue Landrover Ambulances, an NWAS RRV and an Ambulance all turning up unannounced to park in the car park to their property, and who kindly let us use their hose pipe to clean off the worst of the mud from our clothing and kit used on this rescue and the rain just got worse and worse…..