A woman was rescued by 4WD after falling on a steep trail near West Head.
Just before 11.30am this morning (Saturday, 19 April), emergency services received a call for assistance for a bushwalker who had fallen and was unable to get up on the Resolute Trail, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
The 62-year-old woman was walking on the trail with her husband, when she slipped on a steep section of stairs. Although in a remote area, the trail was unusually busy with walkers due to the Easter long weekend and school holidays. A passing off duty doctor is believed to have assessed her injury, saying she had a suspected broken ankle.
The woman’s husband, who is a NSW State Emergency Service volunteer, was able to provide precise GPS coordinates for their location, and could described where they were, approximately 50m from the end of the fire trail that could be reached by 4WD vehicles.
Responding to the scene were NSW Police, Terrey Hills Rural Fire Brigade, Fire and Rescue NSW crews from Mona Vale and Berowra Stations, and four NSW Ambulance crews including a Special Operations Paramedic, NSW Ambulance Supervisor Jo Brigden-Jones and NSW Ambulance Inspector Mark Whittaker.
The West Pittwater Rural Fire Brigade was also tasked to access Resolute Beach from the water with the Elvina Fire Boat, but once they arrived, it was deemed too dangerous to attempt a beach landing with heavy swells making their way past Barrenjoey Headland and they were called off.
NSW Rural Fire Service firefighters from Terrey Hills had reached the Resolute Trail by midday, and a walking party set off down the track, reaching the injured woman just before 12.30pm and providing initial first aid.
Around the same time, three 4WD ambulance vehicles made their way down the well-formed fire trail as far as it is possible to drive, just to the top of the stair section.
Paramedics assessed the woman’s injury, confirming the suspicion of a broken left ankle. They treated her injury and plans were made to carry the woman to the top of the stairs in a stokes litter, and use one of the 4WDs to drive her back to the road.
After some reconfiguration of Inspector Whittaker’s 4WD to allow a stokes litter to be carried internally, the woman was carefully assisted into the litter and carried by firefighters and paramedics up the steep stairs 50m to the vehicles.
The injured woman was loaded into the 4WD ambulance and with her husband in another vehicle, was driven approximately 2km back along the fire trail to the Resolute Picnic Area. There she was transferred into a NSW Ambulance vehicle and taken to Northern Beaches Hospital in a stable condition just before 1.30pm.
Images: Northern Beaches Advocate
Remote and difficult rescues on the Northern Beaches are surprisingly common. Anywhere without a defined street address can prove difficult for emergency services to locate, even relatively benign locations such as beach and headland walks. It is strongly recommended to download the Emergency Plus app on your phone in case you ever need it.
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