Bowden Doors, near Belford

The North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust requested North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team’s and our support for a female who had slipped and sustained a lower leg injury. The location was given as land north of Lynham Moor, Belford Moor. A quick translation of the What 3 Words into an OS Grid Reference confirmed the location as being Bowden Doors, a climbing crag on top of the moor.

Following an update from NEAS Dispatch, our Mountain Rescue Incident Commander swiftly deployed six members who were involved in the World Extreme Medicine course at Wooler. One of our Landrovers, Curlew Charlie, was also deployed from Wooler with an ETA to Bowden Doors of 10 minutes.

Once on scene, Team members worked with the NEAS Paramedics to stabilise the casualty and evacuate them on a Bell stretcher to the nearest road. A burrito wrap using a Blizzard Protection Systems blanket and a winter casualty bag was used to keep the female warm. As you’ll see from the photos it was a bit wet!

Within an hour of the initial activation, the casualty had been evacuated to the road and handed over to the crewed Ambulance. This was definitely a case of having resources in the right place at the right time!

We wish the casualty well and hope that they are out bouldering again very soon.

The incident involved 7 members for 1 hour 40 minutes.