A man was rescued after dark following a fall from his mountain bike at Ingleside.
Just before 4.00pm Saturday (04 July), a man called Triple Zero (000) to report he had fallen off his mountain bike and was injured in the bush near the Slippery Dip Fire Trail at Ingleside.
The 70-year-old rider was able to use the Emergency Plus app to provide rescuers with his precise location. He had been riding alone on a popular mountain bike trail known as ‘Ya Mum’, which is close to Deep Creek Reserve, North Narrabeen.
The man had been on the trail near the ridgeline when he crashed, going over the handlebars and landing on his head. He was able to speak to rescuers by mobile phone, telling them he had significant pain in his back and was unable to continue without assistance.
NSW Ambulance sent five crews, including NSW Ambulance Inspector Mark Whittaker, NSW Ambulance Inspector Kat Dunlop in the four-wheel drive (4WD) transport ambulance from St Ives Ambulance Station, and two Special Operations Paramedics trained in remote area rescue.
Assessing the rider’s location closer to the top of the hill than the bottom, and with familiarity with the location from previous rescues, Inspector Whittaker determined that the best way to recover the man would be along the Slippery Dip Fire Trail, entering around 6km away at Morgan Road, Belrose.
He also requested the assistance of firefighters from the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Narrabeen Station, who are equipped with an all-terrain wheeled stretcher known as a ‘mule’.
Belrose Rural Fire Brigade made their way to join paramedics at the Slippery Dip Fire Trail, while Terrey Hills Rural Fire Brigade entered from Caleyi Trail near the Wakehurst Parkway, Ingleside, just before 4.30pm.
The man had been riding the trail in daylight, but had crashed at a time the trail was quiet and no other riders were nearby. Although the safest way to rescue the man was via the Slippery Dip Fire Trail, the fastest way to reach him was to walk up the trail from Deep Creek Reserve, North Narrabeen.
As the sun began to set and winter daylight faded rapidly, firefighters made their way on foot towards the injured man from the bottom of the hill. They reached him just after 4.45pm, providing first aid and confirming their location.
By this point paramedics and firefighters had made their way to a staging point on the Slippery Dip Fire Trail around 5km from the entry point at Belrose. Taking the mule stretcher with them, they made their way on foot to the man’s location, which took around 20 minutes in the dim light.
Paramedics assessed the 70-year-old man’s condition on the trail. He was able to move his arms and legs but was complaining of severe pain in his neck and back. His body temperature was also dropping as the ambient air temperature dropped rapidly after the sun set.
Treating the man for a potential spinal injury and wrapping him in a space blanket, paramedics and firefighters placed him into the mule stretcher shortly before 6.30pm to be carried back to the vehicles waiting at the fire trail.
The walk back with the man took longer in the dark, arriving at the vehicles just after 7.00pm. He was placed onto a stretcher from the 4WD transport ambulance and rescuers then began a slow trip back towards the trailhead at Morgan Road, arriving just before 8.30pm.
There the 70-year-old man was met by his anxious wife and transferred into a waiting ambulance, which took him to Royal North Shore Hospital in a stable condition just after 8.45pm. NSW RFS Group Officer Warren Cree then took Terrey Hills firefighters to collect their vehicle from the other end of the trail.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Mark Whittaker said that although it was not recommended to ride alone in remote areas, the man had been able to direct rescuers to his exact location thanks to the Emergency Plus app.
Images and video: 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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