Lucky for some?

One person's misfortune in the Lake District turned out to be good luck for a pot-holer in the western Dales, near Kirkby Lonsdale, on Saturday evening. 

Thirty two CRO members turned out in response to a call to the Wretched Rabbit entrance to the Easegill Caverns (Britain's longest and most complex cave system), where a young woman was described as having had two fits and being 'in and out of consciousness'. 

Two of her companions having gone for help, those remaining - including one who was on her first ever caving trip - struggled to help her towards the entrance.  Soon after CRO's underground team arrived, she suffered further fits and had to be carried towards the surface. 

An urgent request for an RAF helicopter resulted in the first good news of the day - from  the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at RAF Kinloss (a.k.a. 'the ARCCK').  Returning from an incident in the Lake District, a Sea King from 'A' Flight, 202 Sqn, RAF Boulmer was re-fuelling at Carlisle Airport and could be over Casterton Fell in 35 minutes.  Having been hauled to the surface, the patient, believed to be from the Manchester area, had only ten minutes to wait, before the helicopter landed.  Only eight minutes after take-off, and accompanied by one of CRO's four underground doctors on the incident, she arrived at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. 

CRO Underground Controller, Matt Burke, of Kendal, praised both the patient's own party and his CRO colleagues, saying "The whole incident went really well.  When a casualty's companions can get her moving, underground, it's much easier for us to maintain that momentum and keep everyone in a positive frame of mind. 

"The fact that they were exhausted by the time they got out, shows how hard they worked.  Our own members really got it together; I can only describe the rescue as 'slick'.  Then, on re-gaining the surface, to discover that the RAF would be here in only a few minutes was the best news we could have hoped for."

That was the most serious of CRO's three (and a bit) incidents over the weekend.

On Friday evening, one group of cavers in Kingsdale, having curtailed their own pot-holing trip because of relatively high water levels in a different pot-hole, reported another group overdue in Simpson's Pot.  However, when a small group of CRO members went to investigate, they found the 'overdue' cavers just emerging.  Although they were a little later than they anticipated, they were still two hours inside the 'call-out time' they had given when telling their families where they were going and when they would be back. Everyone was happy with that outcome.

On Sunday afternoon, four CRO members investigated a report of cries for help on Pen-y-ghent.  Other groups of walkers, when questioned, had either heard nothing or thought the cries had come from a group of people and dogs looking for foxes, so the investigation was called off.

CRO does not record 'stand-by' calls or those where no-one goes beyond the Depot at Clapham.  However, a report was received that three cavers might be missing in the Gaping Gill system, at Clapham  The issue was resolved with one or two local phone calls, just as the group returned to their car.  You can't beat an armchair rescue on a Sunday evening!