Rowlands Gill

Incident Type: Rescue

On Wednesday evening ourselves, North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team (NOTMRT) and Teesdale & Weardale Search & Mountain Rescue Team (TWSMRT) collaborated in a successful rescue operation to assist a horse rider who had fallen on the Derwent Walk south of Rowlands Gill.

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) were unable to access the scene in their vehicle due to a locked gate and they requested Mountain Rescue to assist with the extrication of the injured rider.

Given the location was on the boundary with TWSMRT, a joint response was coordinated, drawing on resources and volunteer teams members from all three teams. Team members reached the scene with vital rescue equipment, where NEAS Paramedics had stabilised the casualty, and following a straightforward stretcher carry along the old railway line, the casualty was handed over to the waiting ambulance for onward transport to hospital at 19.15hrs.

Thanks to the teamwork and coordination between the three Mountain Rescue Teams and NEAS, the casualty was safely and swiftly evacuated.

The incident involved 16 Team members and 7 Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team TWSMRT members for a total of 2 hours 57 minutes.