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-Phoenix-

By -Phoenix-
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-Phoenix-

+-Phoenix-

Posted
Posted (edited)

Is there an official CCC (Cachers Casualty Club)

 

Today whilst out placing the new Devils Flute cache Jill managed to break her leg slipping on a patch of mud!

 

Now, those of you who may know, or may come to visit this area could possibly identify any of a couple dozen places where such an accident is possible, since there are a lot of muddy patches many of them with any number of additional hazards and potential additional hazards.... however, you would be wrong, she managed to do it on a perfectly level patch of ground whilst trying to step around a patch of mud with absolutely no additional hazards whatsoever.

 

However, due to the remoteness of the location, and the number of aforementioned hazards we managed to scramble the Air ambulance, regular Ambulance, Police and Park Rangers.... with mountain rescue and the firebrigade on standby!!!!

 

The sad part of the story was when I gave the Police our GPS co-ordinates they were ill equipped to actually do anything with them!!!

Edited by -Phoenix-
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-Phoenix-

+-Phoenix-

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Frankly Ive probably overstated the difficulty of the terain at 4/4, and were it not for the fact that Jill and two kids at 5 and 10YO managed to safely negotiate the more difficult sections of this route, then I would have abandoned the placement.

 

However, since the patch of mud she did slip on would have hardly been worth a mention in any other situation I felt hard pressed to pull the plug on it.

 

The thing to remember from this is that you are usually at the most risk when you feel safest.

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Beer Monster

Beer Monster

Posted
Posted
The thing to remember from this is that you are usually at the most risk when you feel safest.

Oh no! I'm feeling pretty safe right now! What's likely to happen to me...? :)

 

Ah - that's ok now. I feel a little more at risk just from having my panic attack! :rolleyes:

 

Sorry to hear about the leg. Hope it heals up quickly. You'll have to look out for the wheelchair-friendly caches for a while. :P

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Bill D (wwh)

+Bill D (wwh)

Posted
Posted

I'm sorry to hear that - I hope Jill makes a speedy recovery.

 

I'm surprised the police didn't know how to use the co-ords. I would have thought that in remoter areas they would find them rather useful!

 

"We're at N xx xx.xxx W xxx xx.xxx, OS grid abcdef ghijkl"

 

or

 

"Well, we're on this mountain. We're sort of round the corner of this sticking out bit, with a lot of rocks around us, and under a bit with some cracks in it..."

 

I know which I'd prefer!

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John & Hazel

+John & Hazel

Posted
Posted

:rolleyes: Sorry to hear of Jill's accident :P . We hope she recovers very soon. :)

As Andy & Kerrie have said in their post, Hazel fell and broke her leg 7 weeks ago Feb 4. She is still in plaster and the next hospital visit is not for another 2 weeks.(Cabin Fever has now set in.) So we hope Jill mends a lot quicker.

Your housework and tea making skills will vastly improve though.

John & Hazel

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Beds Clangers

+Beds Clangers

Posted
Posted

Hope Jill makes a quick recovery and after previous injury posts I try to be extra careful but nearly joined the accident figures myself a few weeks ago.

 

While looking for a cache, on top of a 5m bank onto a minor road, I didn't notice some barbed wire in the "undergrowth". As I moved forward the barbed wire got me and I slipped down the bank onto the road :unsure:

 

Picked myself up, a bit dazed and with a bit of a messy leg and then limped back to the vehicle. This was only rural Hertfordshire and I did think to myself what if I had really been hurt, who would have found me? :laughing:

 

OK, I have a mobile but there was no signal where I was. As I cache alone, I now approach all caches with some care and try to look out for possible dangers.

 

Formal Risk Assessments for all caches? :rolleyes:<_< (Only Joking)

 

Nick

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lest44

+lest44

Posted
Posted

Hope the leg gets better soon, at least you broke it doing something nice, our youngest broke his femur falling off the sofa! As for the police...we witnessed an accident when caching and thought that the ambulance might get there quicker with exact co-ords, no such luck, none of the services in Essex where the accident happened used them. Also tried to give them the grid reference as well but they didn't want that either!

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Alibags

+Alibags

Posted
Posted (edited)

I can confirm that emergency services are not interested in an 10 figure grid reference and are happier with "somewhere between junction 22 and Junction 21 Southbound". Ho hum.

 

I too would like to add my best wishes hope that Jill gets better soon. I am afraid that Hazel has beaten you with a FTB

Edited by Alibags
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NickPick

NickPick

Posted
Posted
I can confirm that emergency services are not interested in an 10 figure grid reference and are happier with "somewhere between junction 22 and Junction 21 Southbound". Ho hum.

The AA were very pleased with an OS grid reference when my works van broke down. It was either that or "on a very narrow lane leading south out of a village No-one has ever heard of somewhere in Devon" The patrol man who towed us away said it was a pleasure to have such a decent locaction - he'd once had a bloke on a mobile describing the layby he was broken down in, but didn't know the road name, number or nearest town.

 

I have heard of some emergency services who are fully kitted up with GPS and everything, when the operator answers, the caller ID gives them an address, and your address and co-ords get downloaded to the ambulance automatically (when you call from a land-line) Obviously not in the UK though.

 

Hope the leg heals well.

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Paul G0TLG

+Paul G0TLG

Posted
Posted

The only time I ever had to call emergency services to an off-road location, I quoted an NGR and they found me with no problem. This was in pre-GPS days! That was Sussex Police, and as I gave them the grid, the operator said, "Oh yes, that looks on my map as if you're just south of XYZ Farm?". So some of the can do it!

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Teuchters

+Teuchters

Posted
Posted
.... with mountain rescue and the firebrigade on standby!!!!

 

The sad part of the story was when I gave the Police our GPS co-ordinates they were ill equipped to actually do anything with them!!!

Many mountain rescue teams are very conversant with 10 fig grid refs but most wouldn't know what to do with lat and long. RAF helicopters, which sometimes attend incidents, are fitted with GPS but I am not sure about Air Ambulances. (I ought to know as I chaired a national committee that was set up to look at helicopter rescues in remote terrain!)

The fact is that when you make contact with the emergency services, the call centre operative probably doesn't know much about GPS at all. You could try giving them a six figure ref instead - many have heard of this.

Coastguard are much more switched on to Lat / Long - next time, try having your accident on a beach!! :)

Its always worth asking the operator to write down the 10 or 6 fig ref and getting them to read it back to you. Don't forget the all important letters as well or the rescuers could go to a similar spot hundreds of km away......

Mobile phone call centres are often a long distance away from the scene of an accident and will have little local knowledge. Calls from the Cairngorms, for example, often end up in Wick and some calls from the Lakes can go to Dublin!

Best wishes and get well soon.

Nick

(former Chairman of Scottish Mountain Rescue)

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-Phoenix-

+-Phoenix-

Posted
  • Author
Posted
.... with mountain rescue and the firebrigade on standby!!!!

 

The sad part of the story was when I gave the Police our GPS co-ordinates they were ill equipped to actually do anything with them!!!

Many mountain rescue teams are very conversant with 10 fig grid refs but most wouldn't know what to do with lat and long. RAF helicopters, which sometimes attend incidents, are fitted with GPS but I am not sure about Air Ambulances. (I ought to know as I chaired a national committee that was set up to look at helicopter rescues in remote terrain!)

The fact is that when you make contact with the emergency services, the call centre operative probably doesn't know much about GPS at all. You could try giving them a six figure ref instead - many have heard of this.

Coastguard are much more switched on to Lat / Long - next time, try having your accident on a beach!! :)

Its always worth asking the operator to write down the 10 or 6 fig ref and getting them to read it back to you. Don't forget the all important letters as well or the rescuers could go to a similar spot hundreds of km away......

Mobile phone call centres are often a long distance away from the scene of an accident and will have little local knowledge. Calls from the Cairngorms, for example, often end up in Wick and some calls from the Lakes can go to Dublin!

Best wishes and get well soon.

Nick

(former Chairman of Scottish Mountain Rescue)

Thank-you for the un-needed clarification, I cant believe that after 12 years in Cave rescue I was dumb enough to believe that a telephone operator would be a GPS expert!

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Mrs Phoenix

Mrs Phoenix

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone.

 

I'd like to thank everyone for their good wishes after my recent accident.

 

I've just come back from the fracture clinic at the hospital and the good news is that my leg is not broken. The bandages are off and I can now put weight on it. I still have to use crutches for the time being as it's still quite painful, but hopefully it won't be too long, before I'm out caching again.

 

Thanks again

 

Jill

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