Incident 29. DSRT(Tavistock) was called at 15:05 to assist the Ambulance service extract a fallen climber in Foggintor Quarry. The climber hit the ground after some of his protection came out during a fall, injuring his wrist , spine and pain in his ankles. As he landed on his feet first, the climber was fortunate not to sustain a head injury. We highly recommend that helmets are worn when climbing to reduce head injuries in falls and from falling rocks & debris from above.
The casualty was treated by Air Ambulance medics, whilst we packaged him in a vacuum mattress to protect his spine and evacuated him to the helicopter outside the quarry. Ropes were used to protect the stretcher as we lowered it down to the path, and then later as we lifted it up over the large rock step by the pond on the way out. It was great to see how seamlessly the team, Air Ambulance medics & SWAST worked together.
After collecting kit from the quarry and checking that the other climber could safely recover their remaining gear to safeguard against further incident, the team was stood down at 1655 and made their way to the roadhead. We wish the casualty a speedy recovery.
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