Published at 11:53, Sunday, 24 February 2013

Mountain rescuers were kept busy after they were called to four incidents in one afternoon.

Teams were assisted by paramedics, the air ambulance, police, the RAF and the Royal Navy as they dealt with two call outs on Helvellyn, one on St Sunday Crag and one on Scafell Pike on Saturday afternoon.

A father and son were the first to need assistance on Saturday. They fell while descending Helvellyn Gill, in the Thirlmere Valley, at about 12.15pm.

Air ambulance paramedics treated them until mountain rescuers arrived.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team was called to help but two members of the Patterdale rescue team attended, as they were climbing on Helvellyn.

The man suffered a suspected broken ankle, while his 15-year-old son was treated for a broken femur.

The father and son, from High Wickham, were airlifted by the Royal Navy Sea King helicopter to the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.

As the first incident was finishing at about 3pm, Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was called after a 27-year-old man, from Runcorn, fell 100m down Helvellyn, towards Red Tarn.

He dislocated a shoulder and broke an ankle and was treated by mountain rescue volunteers and the air ambulance crew. Rescuers were helped by members of an RAF mountain rescue team who were training in the area.

The climber was flown by the Pride of Cumbria Great North air ambulance to the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.

Police called the Patterdale team to St Sunday Crag, where a 47-year-old walker from Oxfordshire had fractured an ankle.

Some members of the Patterdale team were diverted to help and Penrith mountain rescuers were also called out.

The walker was airlifted by the Sea King, which had just returned from taking the first two casualties to hospital, to the infirmary.

All of the casualties were described as being “well-equipped” but were caught out by the icy conditions.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk